Easter Pics

We had Tayler, Emmy, Hunter and Eastyn this weekend. We took them to Sears to get their pics taken. Thought I'd show them off... :o)

Hello blog, it's me....Holly.

So, I realize it's been awhile, but I'm an extremely busy gal.....with limited computer access. Since I blogged last I have been busy moving, getting a new job, planning a baby shower and planing a bridal shower/ bachelorette party. YAY! All fun things.


I got a new job at Grainger. Today is actually my first day on the phones...by myself. And wouldn't you know it? OUR SYSTEM IS DOWN!! It's fine though, honestly. It's easier having the system down than having it be up and running, but it still kind of sucks since we don't really know what we're doing anyway. I sit in a row of fun girls. I can't even begin to express how much better this job is than my last. I don't even know how to put it into words. More pay, more respect....it's just awesome.

I don't have any fun pictures or anything to share this time....but soon, my friends...soon. The fun thing about this job is they let you load your pictures on their computers. Alas, I better scoot. I've got things to do and learn right now.

Later taters!

Perhaps a little less wise......

So, yesterday was the day. For about 2 months now, one of my wisdom teeth has been scraping and I do mean SCRAPING against the back of my cheek. It hurt when I talked, smiled, laughed, frowned....really anytime I merely moved my mouth it caused great amounts of pain. It didn't stop me, but it still hurt. Everytime my tooth scraped against my tender flesh, my check got a little more and a lot more painful. Finally, I decided I couldn't take it anymore. Despite the cost, i was going to find a dentist that would pull this thing and I mean NOW. The first place I called sounded a little bit skeezy. they wanted payment up front and it was in a pretty janky neighborhood. The second place I called wasn't open on Thursdays (which is my day off) and the third one I called told me the dentist was on vacation. GRRRRRR!!!! So I called my dad and he told me to wait it out until the first of the year (which was three weeks away) so I wouldn't have to pay my insurance deductible twoice. Good call, Carl...but my effing mouth is KILLING ME!
Truth be told, it was probably more out of fear than frugality that I waited. (Carl's pretty intimidating) As time moved on, I started to form a callus in my cheek which softened the jabs a bit, and before I knew it, it was January 8th!! In a sense, I was licky because my tooth was actually out of the gum, so it didn't require a super painful/expensive surgery. BUT....let me just tell you- when the dentist says "you'll feel a little pinch", what he really meant to say was "I'm going to shove this needle into the roof of your mouth. At first it's going to feel like your mouth is going to explode into your face, shortly followed by a strong feeling that you're going to swallow the roof of your mouth." That shot-it brought tears to my eyes. No one warned me about that thing, but once the medicine had time to absorb, it was all good in the hood-the hood of my mouth, I mean.
I guess I'm a little more accustomed to a rougher style of dentistry. I was expecting the good ol' fashioned prop-your-foot-on-the-side-of-the-chair-one-hand-gripping-the-pliars-and-the-other-braced-on-my-shoulder-pull-with-all-your-might-and-let it rip type of a deal. My dentist said "let me just poke around here and see if you're completely numb. Then I heard some crackling. Then a tug here and wiggle and twist there, and next thing I knew, my tooth was skipping towards my esophogus. Luckily, the dentist used his finger and swept it out of my throat where it safely landed between my bottom lip and my teeth. Cute. But, I was officially ME-less one wisdom tooth. VICTORY IS MINE!
This was yesterday and I have no complicatiosn to report (knock on wood). I have a huge holde where my tooth used to be and a little unpleasant throbbing-but it's nothing I can't handle.
The other good news is that juding by the xrays, I"ll never have to get another wisdom tooth pulled since the other ones are jammed tightly where they are and pose no threat of ever moving. NEATO!

That rawked my caucus!

So, at the rist of being heckled and chastised and being thrown into a huge political debate, I'm going to tell you about my grand caucus experience. This was my first caucusing experience and I must admit, I didn't go because I thought that my vote was going to change the world or really even make a difference, but mainly because I wanted to know what the heck the big deal is with the Iowa caucus. Why is everyone so concerned about it? I still don't have an answer to that question, but I did have a rawkin' good time at the caucus.
My only regret is not leaving earlier to get there. The caucus for our district was held at an elementary school. True to form, this chool had almost NO parking. It was absolute hell trying to weave around people in the ice and snow trying to find a spot to park in. Then, once I DID find a spot (8 blocks away), the building was PACKED with people who didn't know where they were supposed to be (myself included). There were HUNDREDS of people and one little guy with a laptop trying to direct groups of people to where they needed to be. We finally got the the basement library and I still needed to register. Registering was easy....but the lines sucked and it was hot down there.
I found the Hillary section (deal with it) and stood there to wait. I looked around me and noticed that everyone had Hillary buttons and shirts and lapel pins and banners. I was jeal. One lady asked me who I was voting for and I said "Hill Dog" and she gave me a high five. Seriously. She was a little old lady too. Cute stuff.
It was fun to see people all giggly and chatty like they were best friends with complete strangers who just happened to be voting for the same person.
There was a lot of counting and hand raising and a little cheering and bantering, but when all was said and done, Hillary, Obama and Edwards each got 4 votes from our district. It was a draw.
After the voting was over, we stayed for some pictures and such and one lady came up to me and gave me her Hillary button. Yay!

Fun disguises...revisited.

Remember back when I thought wax lips were fun. I still do, don't get me wrong. But I've recently come to enjoy a new novelty. That's right, the groucho marx fun glasses. I've only just recently acquired the childrens sizes, but I will, oh yes I will, have adult ones....and all who wish are invited to proudly display them at none other than the Wal*Mart portrait studio. I'll let you know when the time is nye. Until then, Hunter and Eastyn will show you exactly how it's done.

I love Iowa....

and let me tell you why....My Aunts Ruthie and MaryEtta, and Ber and I road tripped to Nebraska for Dad's 50th birthday bash. The first town we went through had this.........

notice there is a guest book for people to sign. You better believe my name is proudly written on that bad boy.

JKATS

It was Erin's birthday on the 21st, so I went up to visit her. Her mom was there and we got to go to one of her shows. We had a blast, per usual. Erin's in a band now. The band is called JKATS (formally known as Jack Knife and the Sharps) I set up a myspace for her for her birthday. YAY!

Eastyn

Eastyn is 3 months old now. She's getting so big and looks more like Opie every time I see her. She's a snuggler, and I'm pretty sure I'm her favorite. She actually told me that she likes me the best, but swore me to secrecy because she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Sorry, Eastyn. You should know that I'm not the best secret keeper.

I don't think you can handle this....

OMG!!!!! So, last night I was laying on the air mattress watching "Miami Ink". I was just minding my own business...winding down from a weekend full of magic and wonder when I felt a "thud" on my rib cage. It was a soft and gentle "thud", but I definately knew something was there. I thought, "now, what in the hell." So, I looked down and moved the blanket and a $@&*Q%Q*%@!@^&$&%^&%#*^@!%& BAT flew up friggin' right by my face. I've never moved so fast in my entire life. I ran to the bathroom and sat and contemplated my next move. Should I trap it with a laundry basket? No. That would never work, the bat could squeeze through the holes. Should I catch with a couple of cooking pots? No. That would wake the kids...and probably the neighbors. Then, I wished for a net. When one didn't magically appear out of thin air, I was forced to abandon that idea and go wake up Matt and Steph. Perfect idea. Matt will know just what to do.
I walked upstairs to their door and knocked ever so slightly and just then the bat came swooping down at me. I think I about shat myself at this point. I was shaking and convulsing outside of their door in a crumpled up ball of Holly. I was saying in a talking whisper "Ok, seriously...you guys need to open this &*#$%@#*&% door, there's a *&^%$$&^* bat out here! That didn't work....so I knocked again....the bat swooped again. It felt like this cycle went on for about 12 hours, but in all honesty, it was probably only 10 minutes. Trust me, though....10 minutes of having a bat swooping down at you is PLENTY. Matt finally cracked open the door and just as he did, the bat swooped again and in between Matt trying to not let the bat in and me trying to get into the "bat-free zone". I got squashed between the door and the frame and backed out....leaving me...once again....alone with the bat. I thought, great...Matt's up. He can deal with it. I ran downstairs as quickly as my chubby legs would carry me. But I could still see the shadow of the demon creature circling around the upstairs hallway. the bat finally stopped. At this point, I realized I needed to suck it up and go find the damn thing. I walked ever so gingerly up the steps....and there he was. Sitting on the bookshelf licking his wings. Eff. That's right. Eff, I say. I can't really tell you what happened next. Just know that it involves Matt, a raquetball raquet and a wal*mart bag. EFF, EFF and more EFF.
This may seem like it's not such a big deal...but I want you to think about it...no, really really think about it....I had a BAT land on my freakin' rib cage. WHAT THE HELL?!?!!?!??! I'm sorry...this just happened last night...I'm having a hard time getting over it....I needed to tell you guys.
Bats are gross.
The end.

All for not.

I can't even tell you how many hours we've logged into this stupid apartment....I just needed to show you guys the almost finished product. These are a few pictures of the place when we were a little over halfway done.

You gotta know when to hold em...know when to fold em.

Know when to walk away...when the dealin's done.
Yeah, so.....I moved out of my apartment today.

the end.

It's like treasure....only you don't get rich...you get sick.

So.......on Sunday Stephanie and I were cleaning out the cupboards and came upon a grizzly discovery....that's right. MOLD. Not that either of us were surprised, because along just about every baseboard in the apartment, we had scrubbed and primed and painted mold colonies. Seriously though....it's starting to get a little bit ridiculous. I called the landlord and let him know that the cupboard was moldy and this is what he said to me. And I quote "What do you want me to do about it?" I said, "well, there's mold in my cupboard...and I actually wanted someone to come take a look at it because it can't be healthy to have all of this mold growing everywhere." Then he said "Paint kills mold, don't you know that?" Jackass. First of all, paint does NOT kill mold and if anyone tell you that, they're just trying to get out of actually doing something about it. Anyway, that conversation ended with "Well, it is Sunday, hun, you're going to have to wait until tomorrow." Don't patronize me, ass wipe. That's all I have to say about that. Dont' worry about me though, Stephanie called her sister (who is about to graduate law school) and now my landlord is shakin' in his wranglers.

I'm blue da ba dee da ba die

So, I've been promising to post some pics of my new apartment. This is it when I first "moved in" although, technically I'm not moved in....but this is the day I got the key. Since then, there has been much painting and scrubbing and painting and scraping. I need you to know that every single room in the entire apartment was slathered in blue....poorly. And, as you can clearly see, it's not a pretty blue. Anyway, Stephanie and I have been working on it for over three weeks now, and though the end is in sight, we still have a lot of work to do.

Potty Time!

Hunter's getting this potty business figured out....slowly.

Eastyn Olivia

Thought I'd share a few pics of my new neice.

*smooch"

This one cracks me up...this guy's name is Craig. Could his face be any redder?

Mortally Chaotic.....

So, I went to Minneapolis this weekend. Shawew! It was a good time to say the least. Erin and I have made it tradition (three years running now) to go see a local band called "Mortal Chaos" for my birthday. This year, they had a special show just for my birthday (*tear*). Erin and I made tshirts with spray paint and stencils. In case you can't read them, the front says "I'm with the band" and the back says "Mortal Chaos". I would be lying if I said there weren't more than a couple people that were jeal of our find handywork and craftsmanship. Here are some pics of our night with Mortal Chaos and some of their faithful followers. I'll try to explain them as I go...but most of them speak for themselves.

For those of you that do not have myspace....

Here's a little something I wrote on my myspace profile...I thought I would share with those of you who have not been introduced to the splendor that is Myspace.

My Ultimate Quests: There are a few simple joys that I feel I must experience in my lifetime....

I would like to own a gnome. There's no real good reason for me wanting to own a garden gnome. I think they're neat. It can't just be any gnome, though. It has to be one that isn't holding a squirrel or a toad or any other prop. I just want a plain gnome just standing there being a cute little gnome.

I want to play the violin. Now, I'm not saying I want to be the first chair in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Just a few screeches of the bow across the strings would do it for me.

I want to go to Wal*Mart and take pictures with my friends in Holiday turtlenecks.

I want to move so that I'm closer to work and not driving 40 miles there and 40 miles back.

I want to see a broadway show. I think just about any broadway show would appease me. Hey, I live in Iowa...beggers can't be choosers.

I want to dig out my 80's outfit and go hear some 80's power rock in Minnesota with Erin.

I want to learn to do a cartwheel.

I want to learn as much as possible about the Cleveland Browns (my team) and buy a jersey and wear it with pride.

I want to be a taebo champion.

I want to make and distribute t-shirts that say "I've got a mullet and some biceps, what are my options.

I want to use the money from my t-shirt sales to open a daycare and name it something fun.

I want to be on a gameshow. Winning it would be nice, but not a requirement.

I want to pet a whale or a dolphin or one of those mammals that look slippery, but everyone tells me they are bristly.

I want to meet someone famous and act like I don't care that they're famous. And we will drink martinis (or maybe something fruity) and talk about the hum drum of the everyday.

I want to go back to South Dakota to visit Auty and to take pictures at cock rock. (like we should have done the first time we went)

I want to make a soup in a pumpkin.

I want to adopt a child through the Sally Struthers foundation and post the certificate on my blog.

I want to own a chia pet. I would name him Archibald (most likely)

HAHAHAHAHAHA!! It's still funny to me.

Remember that circus potluck I told ya'll about? Well, one of my coworkers just sent me some pictures and I just have to post them....They still crack me up.