Shopping!

Mom and I took a bus trip (thru work) to shop in St. Louis yesterday. We had a great time! We got some screaming deals! I have found that my bad shopping habits have rubbed off on mom. We ended the day with a total of three new purses. I actually walked away from a shoe store (Steve Madden, nonetheless!) with NO shoes, even though I tried on about 10 pair, so that was an accomplishment. Anyways, we had a wonderful lunch at Cheesecake Factory, walked through the entire mall, plus Crate & Barrell across the street, then boarded the bus for home. We were both beat by the time we got home, but mom came over and we and Dan ate the three pieces of cheesecake we bought for dinner. We did see Superman getting arrested. Apparently, his fight for "truth, justice, and the American way" is not allowed inside the St. Louis Galleria mall. Who knew?

Slacking....

So, it’s been awhile since my last update…

Here’s a recap of the way things have been around here..

HOT- this summer has been brutally hot and humid so far.

AWESOME- I have taken the summer off from school and have LOVED the way that it has worked out for me. We had an amazing trip to Florida and the end of May where we enjoyed hanging with the Florida fam, snorkeling, a Rays game (and Hall and Oates concert!! :) shopping, and lots of food and fun.

We also took a trip to Vegas about a week after we got back from Florida. Vegas was SO hot. I love how people try to compare the heats and minimize it by saying “It’s a dry heat” (that actually became our joke)! It’s actually a scorching heat, it just doesn’t make your hair freak out. The swear pouring off your body takes care of that!! :) It was a great trip, though. And I could easily see us going back someday. We toured Hoover Dam, spent a day on a boat on Lake Mead, chilled in the hotel, walked the strip, and saw lots of cool stuff. Oh, yeah- and Dan went to a Convention. Which was why we went in the first place. :)

I didn’t take a lot of pics on either trip, so I may post a few later, but none today. Sorry :)

SLOW- Dan’s parents bought his sister a house, so Dan put our remods on hold in order to finish her house as they want her to move in ASAP. I can’t wait to get ours done. It has been since March, so I am looking forward to seeing the end result. Hopefully, sometime soon. Keep your fingers crossed!!

CHILL- I am enjoying not having classes. I have signed up for TWO in the fall. I am afraid it’s more than I should handle. We will see. In the meantime, I am enjoying the downtime I have.

A STRESS POINT – I am scheduled to take a huge exam for work in September. I have put this exam off for THREE YEARS, so I am not looking forward to it. But how cool would it be to pass it and not have it hanging over my head anymore?!? I am on Chapter 5 of 15. Wish me luck!!

FAMILY- FUL – My aunt Connie was here for a week. Fun! Uncle Randy and Aunt Pat came home the following week, so that was cool! Lots of time for family and friends, we are liking that.

It has pretty much been one of the best summers ever. Hope yours is just as good ;)

I can't believe March is almost over...

This year has definitely flown by so far. Hard to believe it's almost April. I've been sick for almost the past week, missing 2 days of work this week and now Dan hasn't been felling well. I hope I don't pass my "cooties" to everyone around me :( We've been watching some b-ball. I picked Duke to win in my bracket (against Kansas, nonetheless), but at least want them to win so I have bragging rights at work! :) Mom drew West Virginia in her pool, so of course our teams play each other. She might win money, though, and mine's just for bragging rights so I guess we'll see.

In other news, I painted my finger and toenails since I haven't been able to get in to get a pedicure since the lady I go to is booked up on Saturdays. I know, you needed to know that, right ;) I painted them pink, the color that came "free" (yeah, right!) with the last purse I bought. It matches one of the colors in the pattern.

Hope all is well and everyone has a good Easter week! :) Stay healthy!!

Catching up...

It's been a busy past few weeks! Dan, Todd & Ben (our neighbors) put the hardwood in, and it looks excellent. Needless to say, the remodelling bug has bit again. We are now looking at carpet for the bedroom! Too bad they don't base your tax return on what you want to spend it on :)

Spring break has come and gone and other than not taking the usual spring break trip to Florida :( nothing around here was different except not having class one night, kinda sad. That's what happens when you get old, I guess :) I did have a paper due immediately after spring break, so I got that finished over break, then will go in for an appointment on Wednesday to find out how many things he can find wrong with it. Dreading that! Oh, well. Keepin' my head up, only a few more weeks... And to feed my mean side (and make myself smile in class), I have started writing the end of the year review for the teacher. That will be interesting..hehehe. ;) Some "educational literature" for him to read, I'm sure.

Ok, it's Brandi typing again, no longer my evil twin Bambi :) I did learn that I won't be taking a summer class because the only one I can take (and my first choice for fall class) are both full. So, summer off and we'll see what happens for fall. I am going to try (hold me to this!!) to take the CPCU 540 exam for work that I have been putting off for the last 3 years because of the terrifying math involved. I want to use the summer to study, then take it either before or right when fall semester starts. How nice it would be to have that done!!

My little sister turned 18 over the weekend. I feel old :) Dan's brother and my little sis share a birthday. Kinda cool. Happy belated Bea & Dean!!

Ok- I'm out! Have a good week!

The floor is in!

That's right, we have hardwood!!!

Woo-hoo! :)

Curiosity killed the cat...

I used to think this was just a saying that people who didn't know much about cats said. After all, Sabre' (our cat growing up) and Lucky were both very smart. Hemi (mom's cat) is smart, too. So, I never understood why someone would say that..

Until now.

Here is Lightning, who during the remods, climbed unnoticed up onto the fish tank to take a peek..














Here he is on top of the refrigerator again.. guarding the Pringles..










Here he is trying to get the Italian Beef I made fresh out of the
crockpot..


















My little helper "helping" me shred papers.. and luckily not a tail..so far!!




That's what it's like in our house with our death-defying Beast.

You can take the cat out of the alley, but you can't take the alley out of the cat! ;)

Here's some updates...

Taking a quick break from the remods ...

I finally pulled some pics off my phone and uploaded them to the computer.

Here's a pic of the bedroom..



And here's one of our nekkid hallway..



Now, back to the drywall and sawdust and trying to keep the cat out of it...