Hanging with April

coollogo_com-16637157Another Adventure with April

On Thursday August 13 2015 I went to hang out with April and sleepover. It’s never a dull moment at her place.

We met at Camella’s in Appleton near the Fox River Mall. I have to say I felt discriminated against. Which I have felt before but not in a restaurant. There is no sign saying you have to dress up and it was a Thursday. I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. I did see other in in jeans and t-shirts. But most people where dressed up. April was there with Heidi her sister and her husband Brandon. They were really dressed up but a little nicer than me. One side of the restaurant was really nice then wall and other area. Guess where they seated us? Oh no not near all the nice dressed up people. Nope! The other side of the wall where I fit in with the people in not dressed up clothes.

We waited forever for our waitress to wait on us. The portions were small for what you pay for. We had to wait in the beginning for thirty minutes which is fine but waited twenty minutes between every time our waitress would come by. She never asked how our food was or refill things. The food was okay not great. I felt like because we didn’t look fancy that she treated like we couldn’t afford to eat there. I will never go to Camella’s again and tell the people how they treated us. I thought it was unfair and quite angry about it. Camella’s is near a mall! People don’t dress up to go to the mall. I like trying new places but I don’t like being treated less because of what I wear. And I wasn’t wearing anything offensive. My t-shirt had a tiger on it.

April has new rat babies. And I got to see them. Now she has a variety of colors. Awe they are so cute and I love when they yawn, adds cuteness. She has a rat that is hairless looks like a little alien. Another rat that is lighter in color. Most of April rats have been black and white. She does have two new black and white males. Who fight! It’s funny because I have never seen a rat that fights. They stand on their hind legs and box. It’s funny! But it’s not good that they fight. They fight because they are young. Other than that all her rats are so cute!

What’s funny is that April and I always make plans to what to watch to what we are going to do. And we never do those things. We never watch the movies that we are going to watch or the shows.

April and I wanted to go for a walk but of course the weather was too hot. It’s either too hot or raining out. That night we took out her dog Marty to go potty. And we ended up taking that walk at night. We walked three miles! Average for April not average for Danielle. That was a lot for me. However it was cool to see her town. There is this one part of town that feels like a ghost town. There are people are around in their homes but everything is dead around. It was actually peaceful and we didn’t’ feel like someone was going to hurt us. What’s strange is I felt that way sort of through the regular neighborhood with normal houses.

During the night. We walk to the heart to of the town. Where they have a memorial for the men and women in the military. It was so neat to see the statutes and everyone one’s name who served on plaques. What’s silly is Marty got thirsty and thought the pot lights was water. He was licking the lights in the cement. Funny dog! We had fun even though it was a lot of walking.

During this week we got some writing in. it was great brainstorming with April for her story. We are good at brainstorming ideas. For both days we just talked and laughed. We really didn’t do a whole lot which is still fun. We never run out of things to talk about.

It was fun hanging out with April.

Random Thoughts

coollogo_com-31058125Just some things I have been thinking about lately.

My teeth I have been thinking a lot about them lately. I just had that tooth pulled and it left a huge hole in my mouth. Much bigger than any of the other teeth I had pulled out. Also the dentist said that the tooth died and that is why I was in so much pain. I have never had a tooth die before. She said that it was all black on the inside of the tooth. And it broke into pieces when she was taking it out. I have never had that happen before. Usually it just comes out in one chunk. Since it’s so huge it’s been sore and painful. This tooth has caused months of months of pain and still hurts. Just a different kinds of hurt.

Eating. Since now my mouth mirrors itself. Meaning on the left side of the mouth I am missing two teeth on the bottom. Also on that is side the screw for my crown next month. On the right side of my mouth I am missing two teeth on the top. Eating is horrible. I eat like I do not know how to use my mouth. I try to stay positive about it. Saying well I am on a new diet it’s called I have no teeth to eat food with. But its true chewing is hard when you have no molars to break things up. I mostly use my front teeth. Try eating food with your front teeth.

Money. I think everyone worries about money sometimes. As you know my father in law Ken is engaged. Even though we are happy for him he put us in a position where we are like oh shit what do we do now? We all live in the same house and share rent. But since he only spends four days here and the rest of the week with his fiancé he wanted to have reduce rent. Jeff and I can’t afford this house on our own. This house is one of the more expensive houses to rent in our town as well. Also what is super crappy in this town there isn’t anything to rent EVER!!! It’ so rare to find a house to rent. And when one pops up you almost have to be quick to get it because houses for rent go fast. We can live here it will be a little tight. I wish he would have said can I have reduce rent in like so many months. Not I want reduce rent now. Would have been nice to have that little buffer in between so we could plan better. We are not sure what to do.

I wish I could have one month this year where I don’t have to think about things so much. Being an adult is hard. Sometimes I wish I could be a kid again in the summer. Where I didn’t have to worry about such things. Strange because when I was kid I dreamed of being an adult. Now that I am one, I want to be a kid again.

Technological Difficulties

coollogo_com-37322677Derp!

As you can see blog, switching servers causing this, old postings. Thought I was getting a better deal from switching to one hosting company to another. Wrong!

I switched from A Small Orange to Arvixe. Arvixe they suck! I was getting really frustrated at them. They for some reason couldn’t get my blog to work on their server. I was posting and pictures weren’t posting. I had to redo blog posts and even paid extra to have them do an ‘emergency service’ on it and still couldn’t get it to load. Money we will never get back. Good thing they had a thirty day trail so we could get most of our money back.

The only reason I switched it. Is my blog was getting too big. So it was pay extra or try to find a better deal somewhere else to go. That was a wrong decision. I think I will forever be a loyal customer of A Small Orange. Never had a problem with them. I guess the saying ‘if it ain’t broke why fix it?’ Applies here.

Here is what going to be happening. I have to post some old posts that I posts over there, here. Then I will be all caught up. Sorry blog for doing that to you. It will be fine, though.

A Wedding

coollogo_com-102342723Friday July 31 2015 we went to a wedding reception. Warning Danielle in a dress sighting!

2015-07-31 16.18.47I hate wearing dresses. I also wore high heels. Me, I wore high heels! Two things I hate wearing. However I thought I looked good. Also I was never really taught how to walk in high heels. I sort lurch forward when walking in them. Who cares I wasn’t there to impress anyone. It was my cousin’s wedding and I haven’t seen her in years. That means I really didn’t know anyone. So what do I care what they think of me.

I have to say this wedding reception was the strangest one I have ever been too. First I thought alcohol was going to be free. Beer is usually free and it was at a distillery. However bartenders were not that great. We got a couple of beers free and had to pay three dollars after that. Three dollars for a little cup of beer! That is ridiculous. While others were getting beer for free and then some weren’t. What is that all about? Also they didn’t have any Tom Collins mix. What bar doesn’t have a Tom Collins drink? Drinks were expensive I thought for a wedding. A bit unhappy about that. Also the food was not good. We had fried chicken which was the only thing that was good. Then some really salty stuffing and the mash potatoes were disgusting. Typically with a wedding they have coffee at the table. No coffee.

Something I thought was really disrespectful came from my own family. Before the dinner they had a woman say a prayer. My sister was laughing during prayer and I know my older brother and his wife are atheists. And laughing as well. They didn’t have to participate, they could have just sat in silence. That made me mad. I don’t care what your religion is or not but be respectful when someone is saying a prayer. Basically keep your mouth shut. Disgraceful.

After dinner there was dancing. And my family and some extended family was there. Aunts, uncles and cousins. We just sat there and didn’t dance. We all looked like a bunch of old people. Sort of funny now that I think of it. We were there for a good three hours and that is all we could handle. They didn’t even cut cake which is a unusual for a wedding to do. It was strange.

Also Jeff and I did something that Corey and Kim do to us all the time. We left without saying goodbye to them. Funny! But said goodbye to everyone else. They were off socializing with people. Oh well!

What I thought was nice is that my cousin Kristin did come up to us and thank us. She looked very happy and pretty.

Here is some pics of the wedding reception.

2015-07-31_JeffWhooo! Isn’t my husband handsome!

 

 

 

 

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Hanging with Mom

coollogo_com-579728An actual good day

Last Saturday I hung out with my mom. When it’s just my mom and I we get along great. Add my siblings and their families, I don’t exist.

My mom has been asking me to go and see Magic Mike XXL the sequel to Magic Mike. I had no interest in seeing this movie. I didn’t watch the first one till Friday. Magic Mike is an hour and fifty minutes. I could only watch fifty minutes. It was awful! So I wasn’t that excited to see its sequel.

Before the movie mom and I went to Walgreens. I needed to pick up something and my mom needed to get some prescriptions. The pharmacist on duty was flirting with me. He smiled and waved at me more than once while I was there. I never know what to do in those situations. I always feel awkward. So what I normally do is two things. One laugh like a moron or two smile back and do this shy thing like scrunch up my shoulders. I did the second one.

The reason we went to see my parents is my dad needed help putting up a screen door. It was my idea to go and see Magic Mike XXL with my mom. So she would stop asking me. While we went to the movie. Jeff and dad put up the screen door.

We watched the movie and I have to say it was so funny! So much better than the first one. It was sexual but funny. Basically male stripper movie. I liked it! And so did my mom. I am glad I went to see it. A couple things why I liked the movie no woman nudity. Almost every movie out there has some boobs in it. I didn’t see any boobs in this movie. Second I really like the dancing it was choreographically done well.

After the movie mom and I went underwear shopping. Everyone needs underwear. When we got there my mom found a ton of things to try one. I got what I wanted and had to wait an hour for her to try on things. It was funny to see the men in shop with their wives. They would walk around awkwardly. One guy approached me and asked if he knew me. I said no. I have never seen this man in my life. He even asked his wife and she said this “Don’t bother people. Leave everyone alone and wait for me.” Really put him in his place. I was laughing at that.

After the underwear shop we went shoe shopping. My mom has an obsession with shoes. She has a lot of shoes. I swear she has over twenty pairs of shoes and she added one on Saturday. I only have four pairs of shoes. I really dislike shoe shopping.

Then we went out to eat with guys. We had pizza it was good. The service wasn’t the greatest but free pizza. Can’t turn that down.

It was a good day.

Hanging with Alice

coollogo_com-24089160That was interesting!

My cousin Alice lives in Utah. I am sure I have said that before. She came to Wisconsin for Fourth of July and was staying here for a couple of weeks. She is a teacher and gets summers off. For the Fourth we got to see her whole family. Her husband, their little boy Ellis and her. Also funny her son is named Ellis and her name is Alice. She told us that she didn’t get it till he turned one and went to the doctor’s office that her name and her son’s name sound the same. That made me laugh when she told us that. How can you not get it for that long! Ha!

When Alice comes to Wisconsin I try to have lunch with her. I only get to see her maybe a couple times a year. I love my cousin Alice because she is much like me. This time it was pretty strange and funny at the same time. Alice’s parents live about forty five minutes away from us. Good thing driving there is pretty.

Here is what it looks like driving over there:

We agreed to meet at a Mexican restaurant and Jeff and I have never been to that one before. We drive over there and get there first. The place isn’t as big as we thought. We get in there and be seated. The man who was working kept staring at us and asking us if we wanted to order. I think he was being impolite. After about twenty minutes of waiting my cousin calls and says she totally forgot. Also that her mom took the car with the car seat in it. She felt so bad!

We agreed to come over to her parent’s house and hang for a bit. When the man came over we just told him that we would pay for our drinks. He was not very happy and gave us attitude. Hey wasn’t our fault that my cousin forgot. We are never going there again.

When we got to her parent’s house all she could do was apologized. I know she felt bad and I forgave her. But first we had to give her shit about it. Ha! But it was fine. We talked and Ellis really likes me. He is two and he can’t say my name yet. I know my name is hard for kids to say. Funny! But he wanted to show me everything and he was showing me his dance moves. He was being really silly. He is such a happy kid!

In fact I only see Ellis a couple of times a year obviously but he takes to me more than my niece and nephews. That is sort of sad to think about. We always have a lot fun together though.

We went to a restaurant which made me sick later. It wasn’t very good food and I think I got food poisoning from their meat. It was a rough night for me.

Anyways we always have something to talk about with Alice. And of course we can’t forget the very cute Ellis.

 

Soda

coollogo_com-15655352Today is 200 days without soda! So proud of myself!

When we go grocery shopping or go out to eat I look at soda like this:

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I think of soda of just a pile of sugar I don’t want. Even in the store I am thinking ‘no thanks’. My husband still buys it and even in our fridge, I am still thinking ‘nope’. My new thing is I like to drink cold unsweetened tea. I still get a little caffeine without the sugar. Okay yes tea tastes nothing like soda. But I prefer it over soda.

The only time I am having trouble with is when we go out to a fast food restaurant. I have no problem when we go to a sit down restaurant and order water or coffee. However fast food rarely has anything else but soda. We went to Culver’s recently and all they had was tea. Their tea wasn’t that good. I was a disappointed because so far I have seen at least lemonade at fast food restaurant but Culver’s the only option was tea or water.

Fourth of July happened and there was tons of soda. Then we hanged out with my cousin Alice. Soda at her mom’s house and even offered me one. No tendency to drink it at all.

I can say with confidence that I am beating my addiction to soda.

For 200 days without soda reward I am going to read Wayward Pines by Blake Crouch the trilogy. There was a short series on TV that I watched. And I love it! So I want to read the books then I am going to watch the short series again.

LightHouse

coollogo_com-113681143Looking good

This weekend we worked on…the lighthouse again. Hopefully by next weekend we will have it done.

The lighthouse is coming together nicely! First we stacked it together to make sure it was straight. Which it’s hard to judge it is because of all the angles. Then I painted because Jeff dislike painting and I like it. I think so far the hardest part is the swirl of the light house. Jeff really had to use his brain for figure out the dimensions. From a far it already looks very nice.

Of course I took pics. Also you can see how tall it is next to me. I am 5’4 the lighthouse is almost as tall as me! Since this lighthouse is for my mom. It’s going to be taller than her. My mom is about 5’2.

This project so far has been the first project where no one has gotten mad…yet. Ha!

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Lighthouse

coollogo_com-113681143

Last weekend we started a project. So far Jeff and I haven’t fought about him being bossy. Ha! Anyways we are building my mom a lighthouse for her birthday. My mom loves lighthouses for some reason. One time when I was little kid my mom considered living in a lighthouse and be its keeper. That would have been crazy. I don’t know what the appeal of a lighthouse is? But you like what you like.

My mom’s birthday is September 9th. We have plenty of time to build it because it’s going to take a bit to do. Jeff loves making things out of wood. And he is really good at it. Me, not so much too much math involved and I hate math.

At least we have project to do in summer. It’s better than being in the house and being lazy. Winter will come soon and that is when we really don’t do anything. We both don’t like winter sports. I hate driving in the winter as well. Can’t really work in the garage in winter.

I will be taking pics of our progress. I can’t wait to till we paint it. We are doing a specific lighthouse. It has a black swirl. We are doing the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. It’s going to be really cool.

Here is how far we got last weekend.

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Home?

coollogo_com-26138522Really?

We didn’t get the house. It was sad at first then it wasn’t. I know Jeff was really excited to work on the house. He’d been planning and planning for weeks to make everything we wanted in the house. I was a excited for the finished product.

The reason why we didn’t the house is because we have decent credit. Not horrible but not great either. We had to get a loan from the government to get the house. And if anyone knows the government they aren’t the greatest to work with. We had to get what is called FHA loan from them and they are picky! The reason we couldn’t get a loan was because the septic tank is too close to the house. It would cost a lot to fix it and we just didn’t have the money to do that.

S we got our money back from the deal and we do not get that house. Now that it is all done. I feel better about it. It was sad but not anymore. Yes we still have to rent this house and it’s not our house but there is always other houses to consider in the future. Also gives a chance to get our credit to decent to good which will help with the loans we get in the future.

Another thing and we should have known. Jeff and I do not work the greatest together. It’s funny to say that but Jeff is a like his mom BOSSY! He is so bossy! And I won’t stand for it either. Ha! I will tell him and get mad. So in that regard maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t that house. Because we know how it will go. I will eventually refuse to work with him being that way. We laugh about that now because we know.

Anyways no house for us now. Just going to stay here. Who knows what the future holds.