Mr. Fix It - Wordless Wednesday

It Was Meant To Be

Madison L-O-V-E-S Transiberian Orchestra and of course they were going to be in town for a concert. We checked the ticket prices and for the nosebleed section it was going to $125 and for the lower seats but completely on the side of the stage, those were $164. I just couldn't see paying that much money for horrible seats, so unfortunately I told her we couldn't go. Let me remind you that Madison is in LOVE, LOVE, LOVE with this group and the fact that they have some killer guitars, only added to the disappointment.
On the way to work on Thursday, I heard they were giving away 2nd row seats, but I didn't know the answer to the question. Thus, I did not win.
The winner is......OMG, I know who won the tickets. My mind immediately starts racing and I couldn't wait to get to work so I could talk to this person.
Rushing in and saying congrats for winning, I asked if they wanted to sell the tickets (I wasted no time). Um, she didn't know, they were for her husband. She was going to let me know. UUUggg waiting.....

They were willing to sell the tickets to us at face value, but they didn't want the money. The money was going to be used to create food baskets and fulfill toy wish lists at church. Even better, this was a total win-win situation. After Justin and I discussed it, we agreed to pay the face value of the tickets, plus a bit more the the kindness of letting us go. It was all going to a good cause anyway.
I was completely giddy with this and couldn't wait to tell Madison. We waited until Friday night when we were putting up our tree. Now, I didn't received the screaming that I expected, instead she was speechless. She knew how much the nosebleed tickets were and she just didn't know what to say. She did manage to say thank you.
SOOOOO, here is what TSO looks like from the 2nd row. By the way, both had earplugs in the whole night and they (Justin and Madi) are pretty sure they lost some eyebrows during the pyrotechnics part of the show!

From what I understand, it was amazing. I am so glad we were able to do this for her and help out some many needy families at the same time. What an awesome feeling!

The Most Wonderful (BUSY) Time of the Year

December is busy for everyone, including us. The next few weeks are jammed pack with to do lists. This weekend was no exception.
Friday night I went to my friend Becky's house to make Christmas gift for Madison. I soooo want to post on here, but that would give it away. The item turned out great and I couldn't have done it without help!
Saturday morning was pouring rain, but we had to go out anyway. The first item that we had to do was find the band uniform (black pants and long sleeve white shirt). This sounds easy enough, but remember, I was shopping with a teenager! We lucked out and she found something in the first store (thank Lord or oh thank you).
My next stop was getting my tires aired up and oil change (dear van, I'm so sorry I have neglected you, I will try to do better).
Madi and I headed to guitar lessons and got completely stuck in traffic. Evidently a semi trailer crashed carrying hazardous, highly flammable material, so it shut the interstate down completely in both directions!! My gas light came on, wonderful...I got off the interstate and weaved my way to Yukon the only way I knew..AKA the long way! I just took the GPS out of my van, dang it! We made, but she was late.
Whew - so it was just now 1pm and we headed back to the city to make more stops (gas station being one of them).
The highlight of my day was that Justin and I were able to go Christmas shopping (yep, just the two of us) and go to dinner (yep, just the two of us). We got almost all of our shopping done, but of course I am paying the price for being on my feet for five hours. My foot is cursing me out and yelling at me, which is why I have been up insanely early today. Foot surgery is scheduled for Dec. 22nd and thus why the To Do lists are a little extra crazy right now. The rest of today will be the 40 min drive to church, Madi's confirmation classes and then a baby shower. Somewhere in between we will eat and I will work on this next week's To Do list which no doubt will be just as long.

A Thanksgiving With Family

Justin and I were sent on work trips the week before Thanksgiving and my mom was AWESOME enough to come from Iowa to hold down the fort. With the help of a GPS and lots of notes from me. She took over as mom and dad for four full days. I think we would have been lost without her.
My brother, his wife and her mother and my niece all headed down from Iowa the Wed. before Thanksgiving.
Spencer and Carly (my niece) played and played until they couldn't keep their eyes open. I loved watching the cousins play. We don't get to see it happen as often as I wish.
We ate, watched a lot of football and relaxed.
On Saturday, Justin and my brother Chad went wild boar hunting. While I don't think I do the hunting tales justice in this blog, let's just say that they had a good time and my brother doesn't like Oklahoma weather.

We snapped a few family photos while we had everyone in one place. This is my brother, his mother in-law Dixie, my niece, Carly and sister in-law Julie.

I loved having them down and especially loved having enough space for everyone in the new house.

30 Days of Thankfulness

There have been many postings on Facebook lately with everyone’s “Thirty Days of Thankfulness.” A fellow blogger suggested that this be summed up in a single blog post. I have purposely omitted the three most important people in my life, my husband and two children. This list is more about the little things in life that I am thankful fore. So, here goes in particular order.

1. T-shirts. I wear them to work, on the weekends and to bed. Soft jersey cotton ones are the best.


2. Diet Dr. Pepper, seriously, thankful for this.


3. My van. I spend an absurd amount of my time driving. Driving to/from work, daycare, dance class, guitar lessons, the grocery store and the gas station. I love that I can pop in a Disney movie and listen to the radio at the same time.


4. Friends are the best. I’m not sure what I would have done over the past year without some amazing friends.


5. My job.


6. Post it notes, sharpies and highlighters. Yes this could have been three items, but they all kinda go together.


7. My camera. What a creative outlet this has become.


8. Glasses - can’t wear contacts.


9. My house. New, bigger and better, but most importantly it is OUR HOME.


10. Kuerig coffee maker. Coffee any time of the day, one cup at a time. Yum!


11. Music. Michael Buble, Pink, Martina McBride, you name it, I like it.


12. Sesame Street on DVR - 1 hour of quiet time.


13. Facebook - love/hate relationship.


14. Cell phone - primarily no long distance calls from the land line.


15. Tornado shelters.


16. Dogs. I love my two dogs, Harley and Moxie. Unconditional love and wagging tails.


17. My laptop.


18. Air conditioning. Spend a summer in Oklahoma and you will be thankful as well.


19. Washer and dryer.


20. Doctors, especially pediatricians that KNOW their stuff.


21. Sarcasm.


22. Planners. Oh, how I could not live without (marked up with highlighters and post-it notes of course).


23. Food. I like food.


24. Wizard 101 - the only computer game I play (or can figure out).


25. Scrapbook paper….so many choices, so little time.


26. Fenced in yard. I’m not a fan of getting up and walking the dogs on a leash when it is cold (or rainy or windy) outside.


27. Craft stuff. Nothing particular. I like it all.


28. Healthy children. I see way too much bad stuff on a daily basis.


29. Freedom. Need I say more.


30. A bed to sleep in at night instead of outside in the cold.

The End of the World

So, there has been a lot of speculation about the end of the world. Well, mother nature might just be testing that little theory here in Oklahoma. Here's a little proof:

• Saturday morning about 1am, there was a 4.7 magnitude earthquake.


• Saturday night at about 11pm, there was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake (largest ever in OK).


• Sunday evening there were multiple tornados on the ground, large hail, damaging winds and flooding, oh and wait, ANOTHER 4.7 magnitude earthquake.

There are schools closed due to damage from the above mentioned chaos that has reigned down upon us.
Needless to say that there have been over 50 after shocks recorded and we are a bit on edge around here. I think mother nature may have turned her attention to Alaska for a bit.

Haunt the Zoo

We went to Haunt the Zoo with a few people from church on Sunday. It was dark and there were a gazillion and one people. It resembled Disney World; it was crazy.
The sponsors have multiple people handing out treats like a factory. The people strolled by and treats dropped in. No asking, "please" or "trick or treat." No time to say "thank you."
Spencer quickly learned how this process worked. He opened his bag and treats were dropped inside. He clung to my hand and would let go only to open his bag. He was not trusting the thousands of people along this pathway. He wanted a hand to hold onto. You don't dare stop or slow down. The pathway of people flowed like the Nile River. If you stopped, you were to be separated from anyone that you were with.
Along this flowing river of people are various different Halloween displays and many of them had fake smoke. SOOOO not cool for my asthma. So about 3/4 of the way through this monstrosity, I have a full blown attack. Tears streaming down my face and hacking so hard, Justin knew that my inhaler was in my purse, which was left in the car. UUUGGHH I am stopped and the group continues to be whisked away with the current of people.
I was finally able to breathe again and I look up to see this:

My big girl holding little man's hand because mama couldn't. I knew she secretly loved him. He was content to hold sissy's hand the rest of the way. This is the picture I will remember.

By the way, never going to Haunt The Zoo again.