Instead of Folding Six Loads of Laundry, I Decided to Blog

It's been a while since I've sat down to blog, and we here at Casa Fifty Below have been enjoying the beautiful summer-like weather we've been having in the northland. We know all too soon the snow will be on the ground, so we've taken advantage of the 80+ temps and have been outside! (I am a little annoyed that I am running the air conditioner in October, though....)

Here's what's new -

Gonzo has been growing like a weed. Her Snooki poof of hair is starting to calm down, but she is developing a serious bald spot on the back of her head. Luckily, her hair is long enough to cover it up. She is getting her first haircut tomorrow. She's also sitting up like the big six-month-old that she is. And by big, I mean big. She is in the 95th percentile for her weight. Gonzo loves her some rice cereal! Just last week Gonzo's first bottom tooth broke through, and the second tooth will be through before the end of the day tomorrow. She is, by far, the happiest baby I've ever encountered. Gonzo's favorite thing to do is to watch her big sister, and anytime Gizmo flashes a smile Gonzo's way, she lights up in a way that makes my heart soar. She is in one word - adorable.


Mitch and I made a whirlwind trip to Illinois last weekend to celebrate Homecoming at the University of Illinois.


We had not been on campus in four years, and while a lot has changed, there were a few things that still stayed the same.

Still the same - Mitch and I have a great time together. Man, was it nice to get away!
Different - we are not as young as we used to be. Staying up until 3am, then getting up early to go to the game means that we go to bed by 10:00 on a Saturday night. I think we are both still paying for the trip.


Different - the stadium. The renovations look fantastic! Also different - the team inside the stadium. The Illini are 6-0. Are you kidding me? We saw a great game against Northwestern, although the Illini tried their best to lose it.


Still the same - the squirrels on the quad are as brave as ever. Seriously, I was so close to one I could have petted it. (I know that seriously grosses you out, Mrs.)

Still the same - I love drinking beer at Murphy's. I mean love.


Different - the Marching Illini have a new director, who is doing a great job. Also different - my former MCHS students are all grown up! Several of them march at Illinois, and I was fortunate to catch up with a few of them after the game. I am beyond proud of them.


Today we went to Stillwater to the apple orchard. It was a beautiful day, and Gizmo was worn out from all of the activities. She rode the "Honeycrisp Express", and while she was excited at first, as soon as it started to move she began to cry. I walked alongside, holding her hand.


(Side note - while I don't mind paying the $2 for my kid to ride in a barrel behind a tractor, these people must be making money hand over fist with this racket!)

Gizmo also had a great time in the tractor area - her first experience in riding on a John Deere toy tractor! She had fun trying to chase Lil' Missy, although she quickly realized that she was far too fast for her.


I am loaded up with apples and am looking forward to making apple crisp, apple salad, apple sauce, apple pie, apple scones, and everything apple.

Until next time.....

Kids Say the Darndest Things, Part II

It's not really a secret that I can have a pretty awful potty mouth. OK, a really bad one. It's not one of my finer qualities, and honestly it's been curbed pretty well in recent years, but nonetheless I can still swear with the best of them when I'm around certain company. (Cin, I'm looking at you.)

Mitch has been warning me to watch my mouth at home, as Gizmo repeats almost everything she hears and sees nowadays, and sure enough, this was the week....

The three of us were sitting at dinner when I dropped a piece of food on the floor. As I reached down to pick it up, I said softly under my breath, "damn....". It's hard to bend over! Anyway, Gizmo repeats, just as softly, "damn....". And there it was. Her first swear word. Mitch just gave me the look of "I told you so!" and texted Cin's husband Tom to let them know what I'd done.

And now I'll be getting out the jar to put a quarter in every time I swear.

Lookin' Good, Louis! Feelin' Good, Billy Ray!

Mitch and I have been transformed! Here I am at 31 weeks - we're getting close, now!


And here's Mitch's new look - he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and a week later it looks like this:


General, I think you would be positively dashing with a beard.....

True Romance

Here's how the conversation went in the kitchen tonight as Mitch and I were getting ready to indulge in some cake:

Me: (butter knife in hand, ready to cut the cake)

Mitch:  Come give me a hug.

Me:  OK.  (hold butter knife up to the back of Mitch's neck during hug)

Mitch:  Don't stab me!

Me:  I won't stab you.  And if I did, I'd use something way sharper than a butter knife.

Mitch:  I feel the love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another sign of true love:  Mitch sending me a Facebook instant message that says "DUDE" as we sit across from each other on our own computers in the office tonight.

Man, we need to get out more.

I Can't Walk Away From It

I looked in the mirror this morning, and saw two huge dark circles staring back at me.  

I am exhausted.  Physically exhausted.  I like to try to blame it on Gizmo, or the fact that the to-do list is never finished, or that I don't get to sit down and relax until after 10:00pm every night, or that we can't say no to home improvement projects that take months to finish.  But the real reason I am exhausted?

This damn computer that I'm typing on.  And the internet that I just can't quit.

Don't get me wrong, I love to blog.  I know my family loves keeping dibs on what is going on in our lives.  But I love the internet so much, that I can't just get up and go to bed.  

Take yesterday, for example.  Yesterday was spent at the lake, and we didn't get Gizmo to bed until after 8:00, which is really late for her.  By the time I cleaned up from dinner and the dishes of the day, straightened up toys, did some cooking, and helped to install two doors, I finally sat down to spend some quality time with Mitch.  We went into his office and spent easily an hour and a half on the internet - he on his IBM, me on my Mac.  Facebook, blogging, e-mails, facebook again, check the bank account, facebook, feign shock when viewing my Discover bill, facebook, facebook, facebook......at one point I realized I had to go to the bathroom, but couldn't even bring myself to get up and go.  Twice I said, "I'm going to go up to bed", and yet I still sat.  After finally bringing myself to go upstairs, I watched two episodes of Friends, and turned the light off at 11:00pm, one hour later than when I claim I go to bed.  

I can't keep this pattern up.  I can't keep going to bed late and getting up early.  I can't keep looking at my friends' kids pictures on Facebook.  I have to go to bed.  Early.  

So I now declare that I am starting a new trend.  I will be off the internet by 9:30pm every night.  No excuses.  I will be ready for bed every weeknight by 10:00pm, watch one episode of Friends, and turn my light off.  

Mitch has also declared he will join my no-internet-after-9:30 pact.  The only exemption is when doing homework or work-related business.  

And now I gotta go, so I can get my Facebook stalking in before internet-lights-out.  

What Happens in Vegas....Goes On the Blog

Oh, Las Vegas.  How I missed you so.  

Mitch and I had a great three-day getaway/anniversary celebration/catch up on sleep/sanity check.  And, as the good little blogger that I am, I attempted to take pictures of everything, when I remembered.  

First stop when we got into town: In-N-Out Burger!  We went through the drive-through in the cab and took it back to the hotel room.  It was freaking delicious (even though it was cold).

We spent two days lounging by the pool with enough alcohol to keep us hydrated.

Notice the view?  We stayed at the MGM Grand, the biggest hotel in the world.  And it was.  The hallway to our room from the hotel went on for honestly, a good quarter-mile.  It was two hundred seventy-five steps from the elevator to our room.  I counted.

We spent one night at the Palms Hotel, having dinner at Gardunos, a great Mexican restaurant.

Mitch enjoyed some coffee to perk up for the evening -

- but I went for something a bit stronger.  Two, in fact.  Damn, I love those Patron margaritas.

The Palms were hosting the NHL Awards that week, and so all of the trophies were on display.  Mitch, being the native Minnesotan that he is, got very excited.

We went to both clubs at the Palms - The Playboy Club and the ghostbar - where we had drinks and someone, who shall remain nameless, lost a significant amount of money in a very short amount of time.  Good thing he's cute.

While walking through Mandalay Bay on our last night, I FINALLY found "my" machine - Leprechaun's Gold.  I always play this machine in Vegas, but apparently it's a little old, because we only saw it in two casinos.  

This year?  The Leprechaun wasn't so kind.  I never even got a Lucky's Bonus or anything.  My new game?  Kitty Glitter.  (Sorry no picture for this one, but while I was playing Mitch declared, "How many damn cats do you have to see on the screen to win something?"  It was hilarious, especially after a few drinks.)

We also hit another of our favorite bars, Red Square, which is a classic Russian vodka bar.  The mojitos and martinis were delicious.

We made a quick stop at the Luxor on our way back to the hotel Tuesday night. 

Who knew this would be the sight of Mitch's greatest triumph of the week?  The Playboy Club may have taken his money, but he took it back from the Luxor.  

That's two hundred dollars, baby!  The cocktail waitress was quick to bring Jameson and Ginger Ales - my new favorite drink - to his sideline cheerleader while Mitch was gambling.

We really had a great time.  It felt so good to relax, sleep in, and just see where the day took us. 

And on Thursday morning at 6:00am, it was back to reality as Mitch went to work and Gizmo was up for the day.  So much for easing our way back into things.

5K = Epic Fail Due to the Croup

Does this look like a kid who's got the croup?

Because it is.  

Yep, Gizmo is sick again, this time with the stridor-sounding, nose-running, crabby-being croup.  Last night she woke up with wheezing sounds and struggling to breathe.  After a panicked call to the nurse line of our pediatrician's office and preparing to head to the emergency room, Gizmo got things together after some fresh air and was able to go back to sleep.  This morning the doctor gave us the diagnosis, and so now she's on a strict regimen of Baby Tylenol and fluids to knock this virus out.  

It ruined our plans to participate in our very first family 5K this morning.  We didn't even go sign in to get our t-shirts and free food.  I didn't get to wear my brand new running capris.  (Well, truth be told, I wasn't going to run in them, I was going to walk in them, and I have them on right now to take a nap in momentarily.  They are so comfortable - can someone say "mom uniform" for the summer?)

Here's to hoping that Gizmo feels good enough for Mitch and I to use our sitter for a couple of hours out tonight.  Serves us right for planning on having a life outside of Gizmo.  She sure is showing us who's boss.

A Bonus Sunday Blog

Note:  This is NOT censored!  

Did anyone watch the Olympic closing ceremonies?  Mitch and I watched the last hour or so together, and in true late-night (OK, after 8pm) form, here are the quotes from our viewing:

Mitch:  "This is what happens when people are locked inside due to the cold for half the year."

Mitch:  "It all went downhill once Bill Shatner took the mike."

Mitch:  "I'd like to be in that staff meeting when someone asks, 'Let's get giant inflatable beavers!  Who knows where we can get some?'"

Bob Costas:  "The always-entertaining giant inflatable beaver!"

Mitch:  "They must have been higher than a giraffe's ass when they thought of this shit."

Tina:  "Is that Michael Buble?  This just got a hell of a lot better."

Mitch:  "HE'S STANDING ON A GIANT MOUNT-ME HAT!"

Mitch:  "What was made in Canada about those maple leafs?  Those hot freaky bitches?"

Mitch:  "That graphic down there tells you that you only have to put up with this shit for five more minutes before 'The Marriage Ref' comes on."

Mitch:  "I tell ya what, if this is what Canada comes up with when you give them six years and a few million dollars, I'm not too worried about them invading us."

Random Conversations

Mitch and I have the most random, weird, and silly conversations after 8pm every night.  Chalk it up to the fact that we are now feeling the constant exhaustion young parents have, but we are just damn punchy by the end of the night.  Take for instance tonight's conversation:

Scene:  Mitch and Tina, sitting on the large couch that it misplaced in the living room due to home improvement projects that have stalled out.  They are sitting too close to the HDTV, watching pairs figure skating.

Mitch:  I feel that we would be incredibly good at pairs figure skating due to our impeccable ability to follow the beat, since we were good at marching band.

Tina:  Yes, we would be good.  I like their outfits.

Mitch:  Yeah, that guy doesn't look too ridiculous.  I know who I want to be my skating coach - a completely flamboyant gay man.

Tina:  Uh huh.

Mitch:  I think this group has a chance if they pull off the iron lotus.  I think we should try all of the Olympic sports.  Does anyone know where a good luge track is?

Tina:  You are crazy.  Ooh, that girl totally bit it.  She sucks.

Mitch:  You know, our timing with the music would be so good if we were pairs figure skaters.  But we wouldn't be too good on the lifts.  Or the skating.  We would need to work on the lifts and the skating.

Tina:  No kidding.  We would not be very good figure skaters.

Mitch:  What sports should we try next winter?  Cross country skiing?  Slalom skiing?  Snowboard cross?  Those guys are badass.

Tina:  We are not badass enough to snowboard.

Mitch:  "It's important to remember that he had the dove in his suit the entire time."

Tina:  I'm blogging this.

My, How Times Have Changed

Ten years ago Mitch and I celebrated our first New Year's Eve together.  We had just started dating, and I rushed to his apartment that he shared with the girls to celebrate after arriving back in Champaign from a bowl trip to Florida with the MI.  We had Bacardi Limon and Sprite and sat underneath the mistletoe (which his roommates found humorous, since we had just started dating.  Damn, those girls used to intimidate me.  Now I am proud to call them some of my best friends.)  Anyway, as I sit here tonight at 9:00 with a personal bottle of champagne and wonder if I'll ever make it until midnight (let's face it, I won't), I can't help but reflect over the first decade of the new millennium.

In the last ten years......

• Mitch and I started dating and got married within two years.  Have I ever told you about our first "date"?  I suggested we go out for drinks after our Music History final exam, and so off we went to Murphy's for pitchers of Icehouse and burgers.  A walk back to my apartment and a little making out, and the rest is history.  Mitch and I got engaged on New Year's Eve 2000; he brought over a bottle of champagne and some bridal magazines and popped the question.  It was easily one of the happiest days of my life.  
• We graduated from college and both have earned master's degrees.  And are still paying off the loans. 
• We have moved eight times and lived in three different states.
• Between the two of us, we have visited sixteen states and Canada.
• We have held thirteen jobs (but not at the same time, of course).  
• We have made wonderful friends all over the country.  I hate that as adults when you live far away from so many of them that you rarely get to see them.  
• We have lived with our parents at various times during the decade.  While it's never easy to go home, our parents have always made the transition seamless for us.  We are so lucky to have such wonderful, supportive parents.
• We had our little Gizmo, who really completes our lives.  I know I've mentioned before that Mitch and I weren't sure if we were ever going to have kids before, but we both agree that it was the best decision we've ever made.  There is no greater pleasure than listening to your husband and daughter giggle and laugh while they play together.  

The last decade has given us many ups, some downs, and lots of laughs, we look forward to the next decade (our thirties - yikes!) and what opportunities will present themselves.  What do you hope to have happen in the next decade?

I Don't Want Your Life

On an average day, you can probably hear 10+ movie quotes spoken in our house.  Some of the favorites we use regularly are:

• "I like to picture my Jesus wearing a tuxedo t-shirt, because it says I can be formal, but I like to party" (Talladega Nights)
• "I like to picture my Jesus with giant eagles wings, singing lead vocals for Lynyrd Skynyrd, and I'm in the front row and I'm HAMMERED drunk" (also Talladega Nights)
• "Baxter, I'll take you to foggy Londontown!" (Anchorman)
• "They're breakdance fighting!" (Zoolander)
• "My cousin Ray-Ray?  Boop - dead."  (Dodgeball)
  
• "Pretty nice little Saturday - goin' to Home Depot tomorrow, pick out some flooring, maybe go to Bed Bath and Beyond - I don't know if they'll be time."  (Old School)
• "You're so money, you don't even know it."  (Swingers)
• "Who's the big winner?  Mikey!  Mikey's the big winner!"  (Swingers)

In fact, Mitch and my fantasy football team in the One Carbon Hill League is named after Anchorman - "Sex Panther" - the "cologne" that smells like "pure gasoline".  "60% of the time, it works every time!"

However, no movie gets quoted more in our house than Varsity Blues.  I know, why would we quote this, when there are so many other movies that we could use?  This movie (which hit a little close to home when I was teaching at Morris, mind you) has some real gems.  Mitch had said once that I quoted this movie too much, to which I balked and told him he was making it up.  Not more than five minutes later, though, I was spouting off another quote from Varsity Blues.  He was right - 

• "Stud-Daddy Wilkerson.  Look at him dance, get 'em some mustard!"
• "Ice?  Get 'em a beer!"
• "That's not the formation, that's not the formation!"
• "You can do it!"
• "Dummy-o's, follow your dummy-0 quarterback to the mud for a scrimmage!"
• "Coach Lance, put me in!  We'll block it!"
• "Move, freak-o's!"
• "Shit, these boys is havin' the time of they lives out there!"  "No doubt about it."

And my all-time favorite:

• "Puke and rally!"

If only our long-term memory could be used for something useful.....

Meet Baxter

On Sunday Mitch and I decided to brave the crowds and go to the Mall of America to do several things:  1) walk around in a cooler environment than the outdoors, 2) eat lunch out, since we won't be able to do that for a very long time, and 3) go to Build-a-Bear and make Thor his very own stuffed animal.  After careful consideration of all the options, we selected this "asthma and allergy friendly" pup, which we have named "Baxter". 

Being Build-a-Bear virgins, we had no idea that there was so much care taken in creating your own bear (or puppy).  If you've never done it, once you pick your animal, you take it to the stuffers, who make sure you put a "heart" in the puppy (after rubbing the heart in various places on your body, like your brain for smarts, your funny bone for silliness, and give it a kiss - all things that I thoroughly enjoyed watching Mitch do).  

Then they put a UPC tag inside him (in case he gets lost),stuff him and tie him up.  After that, you go to the computer and create a "birth certificate" for your new puppy, which we did not do because we were misled that we could do it at home online.  (Our poor puppy!)  I'll have to make a return trip to get that done so little Baxter doesn't feel like an orphan.

  

After the stuffing, you have all sorts of options on "dressing" your bear.  You can get pretty much every outfit imaginable - sports teams, career wear, costumes - the possibilities are really endless.  Baxter looked really good in a simple pair of aviators, but we didn't think they were newborn-friendly, what with the choking hazard and all.  

To top it off, you can go online and create a virtual "bear" that can live in "Build-a-Bearville".  Kids can go and create outfits, bear condos, and have their bear live in this virtual world.  These Build-a-Bear guys really know how to work it. 

Mitch and I had so much fun building Baxter and playing with him all evening.  We hope Thor loves him, as this is the closest he is going to get to having a dog in the house.  

Heard at Fifty Below Zero

The Scene:  our kitchen table, after cleaning up the dinner dishes and enjoying dessert:

Tina:  "I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach....."

Mitch:  "I'm gonna finish, because I'm a man, and a MAN finishes his brownie sundae!"

(said in all seriousness, while wearing a GI Joe t-shirt)

Tina:  almost spits out her iced tea.

And I've Been Doing So Well...

For my entire pregnancy I've prided myself in the fact that I've been able to keep my hormones, for the most part, in check.  I've had my moments while watching "The Biggest Loser" and almost had a meltdown in a restaurant when Mitch forgot to buy my pizza, but otherwise I've stayed pretty even-keel.  

Until today.

Mitch and I (okay, Mitch) has been working on the yard and trying to trim back so many of our very overgrown trees and bushes.  This morning Mitch decided, with my encouragement/demand, that one of the big ugly bushes in the back was coming out.  This bush was an evergreen sort of bush, about ten feet tall, with tons of dead branches.  He set to work in taking it out, and I sat on the patio to offer encouragement and hold iced tea.  Even Thor participated in the bush-chopping, as he had his little hammer working overtime in my belly.  After a bit, the bush was ready to be pushed over, and triumphantly, Mitch took the bush to the ground.  

And then shit hit the fan.

As he began to finish severing the wood at the base of the bush, some loud bird cries were heard.  Mitch stands up, says, "Is there a nest in this tree?" and all of a sudden, two robins were divebombing.  I stood up, the robin saw me first, and started to come after me.  I ran in the house, and Mitch backed away from the bush.  We got in the house, looked out the window and saw the nest.  Sure enough, at least one robin's nest is in this bush.  We laughed a bit, then tried to get a good picture of it all for the blog.  We ran downstairs to look out the lower level windows, which is right at ground level, when we saw it.

A little baby robin, walking along the rocks, trying to fly and find a little security from the windy day.  The poor thing isn't strong enough to fly yet, and so he was just getting tossed around by the wind, trying to get close to the house.  Mama robin was flying around, trying to figure out what to do, realizing that her nest is ruined and that her babies (we're pretty sure there's at least one more out there) are most likely not going to survive.

And the waterworks came.  And came.  And are still coming now, as I recall the tragic events from fifteen minutes ago.  I can't get it to stop.  

I'm confident that I would not have reacted this way had I not watched this poor little baby bird.  But the thought of this young little creature not surviving because I wanted this ugly bush gone is just killing me.  Mitch is not quite sure what to do, as he has reassured me that no one is going to come and chop our house down, and that we'll be able to take care of our baby, but anytime he says anything, it just makes it worse.  I just cry harder.  Because of this, I will not be posting the picture of the baby robin.  Mitch has to delete them from the camera immediately.  

I have not cried like this at all during my pregnancy.  I feel like a total baby wimp, because I really just don't cry a lot.  But I now understand the the control that the hormones have over me.  I'm hoping it stops soon.  And I'm hoping that this doesn't happen again, because honestly, I don't think I can handle it.  

Our Most Unexpected Trip

As I'm sure you're all aware (since we saw many readers of the blog!), Mitch and I spent the weekend in Chicago instead of our intended destination of Marco Island, FL.  Originally, my parents had given us tickets to spend the weekend with them to celebrate my upcoming birthday and have the entire family together, as Winnie and Sarah live down there, and my parents, Katie and Boston were vacationing.  The plans had been made and were quickly destroyed when those damn United people decided to overbook the plane and bumped us.  Surprisingly, Mitch handled the entire situation incredibly well (although my pregnancy hormones were RAGING something terrible), and we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would not be in FL this weekend.  The airline put us up Friday night, and we went to the hotel and regrouped for the weekend, calling friends and hoping no one had plans for the long weekend.  

Because our luggage made it to Ft. Myers (of course), the only things that Mitch and I had were our the clothes on our backs and our carry-ons, which included a purse, two bags filled with magazines and books, and our beach bag.  I used my beach cover-up as pajamas, while Mitch decided that he would enjoy his swim trunks even though we weren't in Florida.

Hot.  

The next morning, we got up early, rented a car, and drove to Elk Grove to start making the rounds to see our friends.  We started with Fred and Wilma, went to breakfast, and spent the morning being entertained by Pebbles.

It was so great to see them!  We then headed south to Oswego to make a stop at Target for underwear and socks and to visit TubaLady and Rachel and spend Valentine's Day with them.  

They were so incredibly generous to let us use their laundry and shower (our luggage still hadn't showed up yet), and we had a blast lounging with them, laughing and talking.  We did a very romantic Valentine's Day dinner at Giordano's pizza, which was INCREDIBLE (it's all about the food right now).  After a competitive game of Phase 10 (Mitch won), we retired to our hotel in Oswego for the night.  (And our luggage was still nowhere to be found).

Sunday was a big day- OUR LUGGAGE ARRIVED!  It was so nice to have our stuff - clean clothes (not that we could wear any of the warm-weather stuff we had packed), my makeup and Mitch's razor.  We got ready and headed into the City to visit more of our friends.

Pooh-Bear and Piglet live in the Lakeview neighborhood, and we haven't seen them in a long time, so it was great to catch up with them.  Pooh-Bear and Mitch used to work together at Raddon years ago, and have kept in touch.  We had lunch at a delicious pub (I got fish and chips - yummy!), and watched the Illini beat Indiana.  

After spending a few hours in Chicago, we were too tired to really get out and do any shopping (I know, we're wimps), so we just went to Cin & Tom's to relax and get ready for the next meal and social time.  The four of us met Zan and The Mrs. at La Mex, my all-time favorite Mexican restaurant.  I had been craving flautas for at least a month, and they tasted SO good, once they finally made it to the table.  (Of course the waiter messed up my order and got everyone else's correct - oh well.)  It was so much fun to catch up with everyone and listen to them tell kid stories - soon we'll be able to contribute.  

This morning we went back to O'Hare to come home (and of course our flight was delayed about an hour - par for the course for the weekend), and we then spent the rest of the afternoon napping.  Unfortunately, Mitch spent the weekend with a cold, which got progressively worse as the weekend wore on.  He's feeling pretty bad today.  I'm hoping to not catch it.  

Although it certainly wasn't the relaxing weekend we were anticipating with my family (and we were SO SAD not to have seen everyone), we made the best of it and enjoyed spending so much time with our friends.  The silver lining?  United gave us two free round-trip tickets for anywhere in the continental US.  Can you say "spring break"?  Hello, warm weather in April!

The Perfect Sunday

I love wintertime, when it gets cold and you just stay cozy indoors.  (Please don't hold that first line against me when I claim to hate winter in January).  Today was the perfect mix of work and relaxation.  While Mitch and I both woke up early to see my mom off, he surfed the web while I took a three-hour nap on the couch.  After waking up and eating waffles, I watched a movie and Mitch got a roaring fire going in the fireplace, which heated the house quite nicely!  We need the heat, because it was raining, then turned to snow today, and the temperature is dropping quickly.  Tomorrow's high is something ridiculous like 2 degrees.  Awesome.  Anyway, we had some lunch, did more lounging and reading, wrapped some Christmas presents, did some treadmill work (can't forget about the Fatty-Fat Challenge in the midst of all the lounging!), watched some football and showered late in the afternoon.  We had dinner and now are lounging on the couches for the rest of the night.  Could it be a more perfect day? 

A Flashback from My Childhood

Yesterday after breakfast Mitch got ready to go outside and work on various projects needing attention in the yard.  Because I wanted to be included (which was stupid on my part - I should have just stayed inside), I got ready and went outside to work as well.  I began raking leaves in the backyard, which quickly became a failing effort, as there are still way too many leaves falling from the trees.  Whose idea was it to get a lot of mature trees in our yard?  And who wanted a big yard, at that?  

Mitch, however, had plans to work on the gutters (that are completely clogged with leaves), but began soaking several small bushes on the side of the house that need to be ripped out.  They are too close to the house, and so need to be ripped out before they cause any more damage through the winter.  I decided to go and help out.  

We tried a variety of methods to get these bushes out.  One would think that just digging them out would be the easiest way.  Not true, especially since we didn't have a good shovel.  We tried clipping off all the stems and pulling at the roots, but we didn't have enough leverage to get the whole base out.  So, we began raking away the rocks and slowly digging under to expose the roots.  

We came across many problems - the first being the amount of landscaping rock around these bushes.  It is a ridiculous amount, easily three times the amount you actually need.  And it isn't big rock, but little gravel rocks that aren't even pretty.  Mitch raked most of them away, but we had to remove a lot by hand.  The second major problem was the extensive root systems on these bushes.  I couldn't tell you what kind they were, but I know that these teeny, tiny bushes had enormous roots.  We took turns digging and pulling, digging and pulling.  What a mess.  I was completely covered in dirt, as I did most of the hand-digging, and the entire neighborhood got to know me quite well due to my issues with plumber-butt.  Mitch is buying me some Lee overalls to work in the yard for next time.  And we are both paying for the manual labor today, as we are stiff and sore.

BUT, we got all the bushes out.  

The worst part was the clean-up, and here is the reference to the title of this post, as I'm sure you've thought, "Mitch and Tina never ripped bushes out when they were kids!"  And we didn't.  But I certainly did spend many spring days as a kid picking rocks out of the grass.  Which is what we had to do after we destroyed the landscaping.  What a pain in the ass.  I was convinced this terrible chore was something my father made up just to get us out of the house and working.  It was something Winnie and I dreaded doing.  And I still hated doing it yesterday.  Somewhere I know my dad was laughing for a reason he wasn't quite sure of.  

My final thought as we neared the completion of the bush-ripping:  "You know Mitch, this is a little fun when it's your own house, but not that much fun."

We're reconsidering this whole home-ownership thing.