Yeah, Blake!

Blake started his new job today! He proactively went looking for one, being unsure if his previous company was going to have work for him when his project ended. They were a little offended that he did this, but turns out that they didn't actually have more work for him. So, I think he did them a favor.

We are excited about his new company, including that they are allowing him to take vacation after a month, which lets us take our honeymoon! And, I know that I am marrying someone with a clean record. His new employer does some work for the government, so he had to complete a 50-page security clearance application. And he passed :)

Easter was great -- James had a BLAST looking for eggs. Periodically, Blake would take a couple that had already been found and re-hide them so James could do more looking. James never knew and had so much fun each time.

My arm is still a mess, but is maybe a little better. I don't like resting it. I feel lazy.

Can't Post

Supposed to be resting my arm. Apparently I cannot fully extend (or now even fully bend) my arm because I have medial and lateral epicondylitis. Better known as tennis elbow and golfer's elbow, despite the fact that I have never played tennis or golf.

So, still no working out, which became increasingly frustrating today when I got a call from the bridal shop saying my dress was in and I could begin alterations. NOOOOO! I'm not done altering my body!!!

Well, no more typing. Except to say that if you get a chance, watch the new episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. Jack Black is on it. It is pretty hilarious. Apparently he also has a preschooler who loves that show.

I am SOOOO drunk

because I am such a supersticous fan. When we were down 13-2 toUConn, I yelled for Blake to bring me a beer. He brought his good Boulevard Smokestack Series Sixth Glass. It's yummy. And strong. And we finished it before the game was over. BUT, we started doing better almost immediately. So, when I ran out of beer, but we were close, and the game wasn't over, I had to have more of the EXACT SAME BEER, just in case that was why we were doing better. But we still lost. and then I had to chop veggies and cook pasta sauce. Drunk. Probably about the closest we've ever been to the final 4. So I'm happy., But, still so so so sad.

At least Kansas lost in the Sweet 16.

Elite 8!!!

I am so excited!!! Mizzou beat Memphis and is in the Elite 8! I will gladly have my bracket picks ruined for that. We play UConn tomorrow, so I'll be looking forward to that game.

It has been a fun and busy, busy week. Last week, Danielle and the family came to town for her birthday. It was fun to celebrate, and of course James always enjoys parties. He's already asking about the next birthday, which is actually mine, but not until June. Saturday night, we went to dinner at Buca de Beppo with Danielle and Shawn, and some friends of theirs from school. It was fun to get out without the kids. If you haven't been to this restaurant, it is a serious amount of food! Fortunately, James enjoyed the leftovers and has been eating them all week. And has some killer garlic breath as a result.

Monday, I went for Mom's Night Out at the Melting Pot. It was Ladies' Night, and this Melting Pot has an even better special than the one in Chesterfield did. $22 for cheese fondue, chocolate fondue, and 2 drinks (wine or martinis). Much better than their usual prices. The company was great, too. It's really nice to be getting to know the other moms in the group better and feeling like I have friends again. I should post a pic, but I'm too lazy to upload right now.

After all of the eating and drinking out, combined with the fact that I still can't work out with my left arm, I doubt that I'm still 8.5 pounds from my goal, but I am trying to be good. We'll see.

Go Mizzou!

Doing the happy dance!

The big things that have been hanging over my head have been completed! I finished my continuing ed and submitted for my certification renewal last week. And today, I just mailed out the wedding invitations (minus 2 that need addresses). Hopefully no major omissions, typos, wrongly addressed envelopes, etc.

In other happy news, Mizzou is finally back in the NCAA tourney, and even earned a 3 seed. And, we WON the Big 12 tournament! Poor James. Since the NCAA tourney starts tomorrow, he is going to have to put up with a LOT of basketball on in the background for the next few days. I've been trying to get him excited by having him play with his Truman the Tiger and then pointing out the mascots on tv. It helps a little. He even took Truman to the MOMS Club meeting yesterday, which meant that I was holding Truman the whole time while James played.

I've been working out hard, and am now just 8 1/2 pounds from the goal I've set. But, maybe I've worked out too hard, because the muscles in my left arm are so stiff that I can't straighten that arm. Literally can not straighten it. But, I'm sure no one will ever notice because of the amazing definition of my biceps, right?

We've all been enjoying the warmer weather, going to the playground during the day and taking some walks when Blake gets home from work. It is so refreshing.

And lastly, I was so proud of James the other day. We were at a play area, and I saw him at the top of the slide, looking around. Then he quickly came down, threw his arms out and said, "Wonder James to the rescue! Mommy, I'm going to save that little girl!" Sure enough, he was trying to come help a little girl he heard crying. Of course, her Wonder Mommy was already taking care of it, but I appreciated James' chivalrous side.

It is such a pretty day!

It is beautiful outside today, and James and I had a nice walk. Although he wasn't in a curious, adventuresome mood today -- instead of pointing out and watching the spiders, spills on the sidewalk, and random sticks, he decided they were all scary. Even I wasn't afraid of these little spiders. Hopefully the next walk will involve less of me coaxing/pulling him along.

We had a great trip to Texas! James did wonderfully on the car trip, and didn't even complain when he had to get back in 2 days later for another all-day trip. DVDs helped. He saw Bambi for the first (and second) time(s). Now, every time he sees a picture of a deer, he asks if it is Bambi. Mom had a new little bed for James, and we were surprised that he slept there quite well the first night, while Blake and I were at the hotel. The second night, he was back with us, because he wasn't used to the new sounds at Grandma's and she didn't have a loud air filter in the room like we do. (Which has been helpful for me, since he used to try to turn the air filter off, but now he understands that it keeps other noises out!) We went to Chuck E Cheese's (overwhelming for the adults, fun for the child), the park, and played in the sandbox she got for him. He had fun digging for treasure. I was really surprised at what a fun, relaxing trip it was, since it was so short, but now we look forward to doing it again!

I went to Mom's Night Out last week to a Japanese steakhouse. It was a lot of fun to talk, but I was disappointed in the restaurant. We had such a good one in St. Louis, and this one wasn't as good. Oh well, I guess it will save me money in the long run! And March MNO is at the Melting Pot for Ladies' Night. OOOOH!

That's pretty much the news here. It is pretty funny to think how things have changed. I watched the Oscars the other night. I had seen Tropic Thunder and Kung Fu Panda. (and 1/2 of Dark Knight, which I just finished yesterday) So, when Jack Black said that he only saw movies he was in, apparently that was me, too. I used to go see as many of the nominated films as would come to town. Now, they have to be on DVD and it still takes me a couple of weeks to get through one. But I did get to listen to Bambi when it was on in the back seat . . .

So Lately . . .

We have had colds, had fun in between colds, and are generally trying to get finished with winter. A whirlwind trip to Texas might help with that! We are going to visit my mom for about an evening and a day, since it will be a lot of driving time. We are really looking forward to the visit, but a little nervous about the drive (with a 3 1/2 year old). But, we are more than overdue to travel to her, since she makes the trip up here every few months. James is very excited and has been asking if we are going to see Grandma Janice today for about 2 weeks.

We've also went to Manhattan, KS for Cameron's birthday party. It was a fun trip. James and Landon played really well together, sometimes alone in Landon's room -- which means the adults had a little free time.

My friend, Brian, visited recently, and we all enjoyed talking with him. I stayed up way past my bedtime talking, and now realize that I am an old wimp and can't do that anymore. I was about useless the next day. The funniest moment of the visit came the next morning when we went out to breakfast at the coffee shop. It was crowded, and a fairly nice morning, so we sat on the patio. James kept complaining that the wind was blowing his muffin pieces off of his fork. Then he looked at Brian and asked if the wind blew Brian's hair away (yes, a fair amount of it is gone, not from the wind). We all got a good laugh out of that one.

We've also been going to more playgroup events, which have been fun for James, but a surprisingly large amount of work for me. He is on the move constantly, and tends to do exactly the things I have asked him not to. I notice at these events that mothers of boys tend to look a little more stressed than mothers of girls. We went to a tour of Petco the other day, and he had so much fun seeing and petting the animals. He seemed to like the fish the best, but that is when we had to leave, because he kept getting into the buckets used to disinfect the nets. He is a very, very good, sweet boy, but he has about 300 times more energy than I do right now!

I've picked out some continuing ed courses to take online, since I need a LOT of hours by the end of March. And I need to make and get out wedding invitations by mid-March. If I spent as much time on doing those things as I do thinking about doing them, much progress would be made. Next week . . .

I am quite pleased with how my Mizzou Tigers are doing this year! We just beat Kansas, which is always a cause for celebration, and should end our NCAA tourney draught. Go Tigers! (Which reminds me that I need to do those classes and invites NOW, since I need free time to watch basketball in March!)

That is the general rundown. I really do hope I get back in the habit of blogging more regularly, since I am way behind on scrapbooking, and the blog helps remind me what to journal!