Unload/Reload

My life consists of a perpetual cycle of Unload/Reload in a variety of forms. I was contimplating my routines this morning...

Get Up

Unload dish washer, unload or reload washer, dryer, or drying rack

Get dressed

Make the beds

Load kids for daycare/Unload

Go to work/Pay the bills

Set the table/Clear the table

Pour the milk/Wipe up the spilled milk

Sweep the floor/Empty the dust pan

Load the dishwasher/Load or unload the washer, dryer, or drying rack.

Get undressed

Go to bed

Add to this weekly...

Take out the trash/Put in a new bag

Get the groceries/Load the car/Unload the car

Strip the sheets/Make the beds

Unwind the vacuum cord/Vacuum/Rewind the cord...

ETC, ETC, ETC

BUT... you can add in stopping in the middle of the drive just this morning to watch the garbage truck go around the caldesac, watching the kids run around the kitchen table a million times, chasing kids with the vacuum, playing with trains on the floor, questions for mommy, stories for daddy, mommy chorus's from the backseat, pizza I didn't make, kids actually occasionally eating their vegetables with a giddy grin, announcements on who went poop, Dean giving Inga a dolly a time out, Dean giving me sloppy kisses, Marly giving me kisses when I beg her, the twinners kissing and hugging each other, loving my husband, loving my family, loving my friends, being loved back, having a paycheck...

ETC, ETC, ETC

AND LIFE IS OKAY!!!

Wordless Wednesday - Things loved last week...

Valentine's Gala and more!

Friday we had my family birthday dinner at Jax Cafe...

Then, on Saturday the Thomberg's headed west for the Tim Orth Memorial Foundation Valentine's Gala. We stayed at Mike and Laura's. Cousin's Mikayla and Mariah babysat the trio of toddlers, while the parents were out dining & dancing at the Bird Island Ballroom.

My cousin LeAnne helps to coordinate the gala, and we had a fantastic time.

Brett and Rachel attended the first time event last year too.

Here are some of the ladies...

The BI Ballroom has seriously never looked more beautiful! There was a ventriloquist and DJ for entertainment, after the dinner of chicken and ribs.

I have YEARS of memories of the BI Ballroom, from weddings with Polka Bands when I was little, to weddings as an adult (30 plus years of turkey, mashed potatoes, and corn at long banquet tables in rows), to paying at the door for Shaw Band and Johnny Holmes in high school and college.

One staple at the BI Ballroom is dancing to "Fishin' in the Dark". Of course the song was a crowd pleaser late on Saturday.

Set Ups! (If you are from a small town/country you know exactly what this means. If you are from the metro, you may have no idea.) The ballroom only has a 3/2 liquor license, which means you can bring your own bottle, then purchase the cola, tonic, etc. to set it up.

Notice the green drink in the plastic cup on the right... There was a machine with Grasshoppers in it! Who can beat this old school, ice cream, supper cluby, after dinner, cream de mint delight!

After the gala, we stopped for last call at the Other Place in Hector. Back at home, Laura surprised me with a Bunny Wolf poppy seed birthday cake! I was thrilled. THANK YOU Laura!

We wrapped up Valentine's weekend with a heart shaped pizza for supper on Sunday. My dad came by too.

Happy Valentine's Day

Lately Dean squints his eyes shut whenever he smiles and poses for a photo.

Here he is being "Dean-O the Dino" - RArrrrrrrrrrrr!

Our first trip to the Dentist

Marly and Dean has their first visit to the dentist Thursday. When I was visiting myself on Wednesday, I was talking to the dentist, expressing my concern we hadn't brought the Twinner's yet. He assured me now was just the right age. The office manager came over to alert me of a 4 pm opening the next day, so I went with it! Mark met me there with the kids yesterday. Everything went wonderfully, which I assumed it would. Dean was excited to wear sunglasses in the cool chair.

Marly watched Dean, then took her turn. She was a little unsure at first, but quickly warmed up to the situation.

We left with clean teeth, fluoride pills since we have well water, and an appointment in 6 months for another cleaning and plans to get 4 sealants for each Twinner. It turns out they have deep grooves it their molars. I think I also had deep grooves in my molars as a child, so I wasn't surprised. Mark and I are glad to do what we can to protect them from cavities.

Hello old friend!

Hello old friend! We are reunited and it feels so good.

For Christmas, I got a generous gift card from Chris for Sephora. For quite some time I have wanted to re-invest in some decent make up, and get a consultation on products. Well... the card in the pretty little mirrored case was burning a hole in my purse, but I simply haven't had time to use it until now.

Top of the list of purchases - America's #1 Blush too many years running in Allure - "Orgasm" by NARS. I have been using it since my wedding...until I had twins, and it ran out, and I felt unable to drop $26 on blush. Today my cheeks have the just right glow again (at least to me).

After my dental appointment last night, I called dear Mark and asked if I could make a detour to the mall before returning home. It is my birthweek after all...right? Despite my droopy face being all coked up on Novicaine, I was like a kid in the candy store.

Thank you Chris for this gift. Thank you also for the birth month mani/pedi's for Rachel and I.

Flexing My Dollars on Dental

***UPDATE to this post... my dental work is now complete, my pearly whites are white from front to back... AND I still have FLEX dollars left! The dentist also hopes I don't need further work (and there is NONE he could forsee), as he says my mouth it difficult to manauver... something about my jaw. What the heck does that mean???***

For my past three regular six month dental appointments, my dentist has urged me to upgrade/change out/refill my silver fillings from childhood. At the first appointment (more then two years ago) he suggested the work. At the second visit, he urged me to consider planning ahead for the dental work, and mentioned thinking of my Flex health dollars through my place of work. At the third visit, he encouraged me to do it at my next 6 month visit or before. So, I have one side on my mouth done, and this afternoon I will finish the other side.

Mark and I LOVE the dentist, and take our teeth seriously. We do not go to the same dentist though. He goes to a dentist in Forest Lake he has been seeing for years. I go to St. Paul Family Dentistry, where I have been a patient since a co-worker at KSTP TV recommended me. (It was no longer reasonable to travel to Hector to see my childhood dentist, Dr. Menser... although his daughter, my high school classmate, is now in practice with him.)

After my last 6 month appointment, I decided my fillings had lead a long and good life, and it was finally time for retirement. They have been properly protecting my teeth  for a least 20 years! (Surely a good investment on my parents part, and naturally they instilled my respect for dental health. I just recalled my mom use to get lectured by Dr. Menser. She brushed so vigerously she was wearing the enamal off her teeth.)

So, I am using my Flex healthcare dollars and finishing up the job. Mark and I had dollars left over last year (no ER visits from either of us, no babies, and I didn't end up purchasing glasses), so I got the first two done last month. Today we move on to the left side. Unfortunately, there are 4 over there. This will pretty much wipe out my Flex dollars (in February). Let's hope I don't have any recycling accidents this year. (I know, I know... I should have avoided MORE taxes, and put in more money...)

I will alert you I do NOT recall the last time I got a new cavity. My best friend Gretchen has a good theory we both have more childhood cavities then our husbands, since we both grew up drinking well water with no floride.