My Spouse

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Sports or he’s playing an X-box 360 game.

2. Your out to eat/what kind of dressing is on his salad? Ranch

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Tomatoes

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? Alcoholic drink would be a Miller Lite, non alcoholic drink would be a Mt. Dew.

5. Where did he go to high school? Sauk Rapids

6. What size shoe does he wear? 13

7. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Ham samie.

8. What would this person eat every day if he could? Probably Pizza.

9. What is his favorite cereal? He's not really a breakfast person, so I would have to say cheerios.

10. What would he never wear? He never wears anything red. He says, "it's to girlie".

11. What is his favorite sports team? The Minnesota Wild hockey team

12. Who did he vote for? Not sure.

13. Who is his best friend? I would say probably his dad, or me I hope. But if were talking friends, then I would say maybe Eric & Ryan.

14. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Nag him so much to help me do things around the house.

15. What's his heritage. I think he's part Scandinavian, and has some Indian background.

16. You bake him a cake for his b-day what kind of cake is it? Well, he's not really a sweet eater, so I would have to say a Marble cake with white frosting.

17. Did he play sports in high school ? Yes, Golf.

18. What could he spend hours doing? Playing x-box.

19. What is one talent of his? Being a great Dad, and being able to eat and not gain weight (sickening)

Stubborn Husband.. What's a girl to do...

Okay, so here I am. I am a wife, mother, work full time and I am trying to juggle my busy life’s schedule. I work 4 - 10 hour days. I get up at 5:00 a.m. and I don’t get home until 6:30 p.m. I then have to make supper, give Austin his bath, find time to spend with both of my son, and my husband before it’s time to go to bed by 9:30-10:00p.m. (I know, boring life isn’t it)

My so called “Day off” is consumed with and by my Son, Austin. I am so fortunate that I have a day all to my son, and enjoy every second of it. We have his a.m. school teacher from about 10:00 -11:00 a.m. and then in the evening we have school from 6:00-7:30 p.m. During our free time on Monday’s, I try to entertain him as much as I can, and try to get things done around my house that I need to get done. So, when I get Austin down for his nap, I try to clean as much as I can, so I don’t have to do it during the rest of the week. Inevitability, I can’t do everything, so of course I feel like I don’t get much accomplished during the week. But, I can’t be so hard on myself, because I have tried to do as much as I can, and that’s all I can do.

I struggle to keep my house neat/clean/and tidy as much as I can, but with feeling like I am the only one doing anything around the house, it’s really hard. I feel I get hardly any help doing the simple things, and the things that need to be done on a daily routine basis. I struggle with my husband to get him to do much of anything, if anything lately. He claims I just complain, because he feels what he does is never good enough, nor up to my standards. I disagree with that. I appreciate what he does do when he does it, but maybe it’s because he doesn’t really ever see to do much without me saying something, and that’s why I feel I am so hard on him for it.

With that being said, I feel he has much more time during the week that he could be helping me around the house, but he doesn’t seem to do much at all. He seems to worry about himself, and the things that make him happy, rather than worry about his family, and helping us out so that we can have time together during the week.

My Husband’s schedule certainly allows him to be more cooperative around the house, and here’s why I say that. He works 5 – 8hr days. He gets up at 5:00 a.m. and gets home at 4:00 p.m. He’s got a total of over 2 ½ hours before we even arrive home Tues-Friday to help with the chores. Instead of him being willing to do something that would consist of work, he rather sit on his x-box 360 and play that stupid thing that rots your brain cells for 2 ½ hours. Okay, I can maybe see taking an hour of that time to yourself, but don’t be freaking bum and not do anything else for the evening. I mean seriously, in reality of it all how hard would it be to take out the garbage, put the dishes away, sweep the floor, dust, or even vacuum the floor??

I have tried making up a chore list, and having him check off what he’s done to show me he can be willing to help, and actually partake in the work efforts with me on a 50/50 basis but, that’s failed. I have asked him for ideas, but he has come up with Zippo. I am out of ideas, out of options. What do I do? Sometimes think to myself that I should just call a cleaning service. HA, that would require money, which I don’t have right now.

I wish to God, that he would be more willing to change his ways, but is that even possible for a man like my husband??

Any advice on this one, I would be willing to take it!!

Valentines Day Weekend

This weekend I am going to be spending the day with my husband up at the casino in Hinckley, MN. I am looking forward to having time alone with my hubby, and enjoying eachother's company.

My husband and I have known each other for over 11 years, and it has been some of the greatest, but most challenging times in my life. He's been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. He never judged me for my looks, nor never criticized me for the way I was. He truly has excepted me for who I was, and for that I am forever grateful. He's one of the best things, besides my son, who has entered my life. I love them both so much, and I am not sure what I would without either one of them.

This day will always be simbolic to me, as it represents the day that I met the most amazing person in my life, and yet it was the biggest turning point in my life. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to meet Brent 11 years ago, and that I had made the best decision in my life to continue onward with this journey life has broughten me, and that we are continuing on this road together.

I love you, and I am so glad to be celebrating another Valentines Day with the best person in the world. I hope we have a fantastic weekend, and that we can enjoy some quiet time without our little AP too. :)

Clearing out the Storage Room

The lovely weekend has approached me rather quickly. With a mound full of things to do on my to do list, I debate on what I should do first. I look at the basement, and ponder the idea of working on cleaning out my storage room first. Since it’s so full of stuff and junk I need to go through, and thought that it might take me the longest to do this, I better get cracking on this first. With absolutely, no help at all from my hubby, I had to attack this project all on my own.

Storage room: the before photo:

As Saturday rolls around, I begin working on clearing out all this clutter. At about 6:00 p.m. in the evening I start this adventure. As I start to look at the stuff I say to myself, where do I start? I couldn’t even move around the floor, as there’s so much crap in the way, and I can’t even get to where I want to start.

So, first I start by clearing off one rack at a time, one shelf at a time. I tried to organize it by holiday stuff. Halloween stuff on one shelf, Christmas stuff on another shelf. I then have to sort out all the hubby’s golf crap. I don’t think he needs another box of golf ball for about 20 years. Once that side of the storage room is cleared off, I meander my way to the to other side.

On the other side, there are at least 7 boxes of clothes to go through. In going through the boxes, I had decided that I was going to go through them and sort out the bad form the good, and then give the no longer going to wear clothes to the good will. I had a theory in mind that for every item of clothing I kept, I had to give 2 items away to the good will.

In going through the 7 boxes, I narrowed them down to 4 boxes, and I had given away 5 ½ bag of clothes to go to the goodwill. I couldn’t phantom all the articles of clothing we had, it was ridiculous.

My 2-½ year old, has more clothes than a department store. (Literally!!) I got rid of my “FAT” clothes, so I don’t have any more excuses to go back to the size I once was. Of course I had to keep the maternity clothes, in case my hubby and I decide that we want to have another kido, I am prepared there. Don’t know when that day will be, but it’s always good to be prepared.

So, after spending my entire weekend, and 2 days working my butt off and clearing out all the crap and finally finishing this project on Sunday morning. I must say that my hard work has paid off, and now we actually have room again to store something of value, and can actually walk in the storage room!!

Here’s a look at the end result!

Middle Name Game

Middle Name Game

1 . YOUR REAL name - Christine Rose (Erickson) Carr

2. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother & father's middle names)
Elizabeth Wayne

3. NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Warren, Virgil

4. STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
Carch

5. DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Dolphin

6. SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, city where you were born)
Rose St.Paul

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color,fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Purple Bahama Mamma

8. FLY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Chrr

9. GANGSTA NAME:(fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie)
Cherry Nut Samoa

10. ROCK STAR NAME: (current street name, current pets name)
116th Ave N.W. (no pets)

Too many to do's.

To Do List

1. Christy’s foot Dr. Apt. 2/4/09 DONE
2. Cancel Caller ID DONE
3. Cancel AOL service DONE
4. Taxes with mom-- Done, Kinda - waiting for a few more items.. YES, were getting a refund!!! - Finishing up today!!
   
5. Austin’s Eye Dr. Apt. on 2/11/09 Wednesday. 7 a.m. DONE
6. Clean House DONE - Only took 4 hours to clean it!! MERCY!!
   
7. Organize storage room DONE
8. Organize my closet DONE
9. File papers from bills. DONE
10. Pay hubby for bills. DONE
11. Clean out Car DONE
12. Hinckley with Hannah/Brent/Aaron on the 14th. DONE
13. Confirm daycare for the 14th with Paul. DONE
14. Try and schedule a play date with Carrie & Cody-- DONE
15. Happy Hour with girls on the 12th. - Didn't get to do.. Dang it!
    
16. Get on my diet again, and start losing weight again.-- Started, not sure how much progress the scale will say next week.
    
17. Pick out a dress/ purchase one for the weddings.- Found the one I want, now i just have to fit in it!
    
18. Upload B-Day Video to Face book. DONE

100 Years Young

So, here we are, were gathering together to celebrate a milestone in one’s life. William (Bill) T. Carr is turning 100 on Monday, February 2, 2009.

(William (Bill) T. Carr)

We decided to celebrate a bit early, and have the whole family gather together on Sunday afternoon at Paul’s house to wish him a Happy B-day. Most of his children, grand children, and great grand children were able to make the festivities. For those who weren’t able to, but where there in spirit, I thought I would blog about it, so you could read how the day went.

The morning started out with quite a hoot. Bill woke up around 10:00 a.m. and his son Paul & daughter Linda helped him get dressed. They picked out a gray shirt, sweater and gray pants for him to wear. When they looked at the sweater, it looked as though moths got into it and attacked it and put holes all over it. So, they said, we can’t let you wear that, scratch outfit #1.

Paul then goes upstairs; scrounging through several articles of clothing, and finds a red sweater for him to wear instead. So, this required outfit change #2. Once they finally got the sweater on him, it looked much better and Bill looked a little more presentable.

(Attempt #1 at an outfit.) (Attempt #2)

It’s now about 11:00 and Bill has his morning breakfast which consists of coffee, a piece of b-day cake and read the papers (sort of). I am not sure if you would call reading the same sport page article over and over reading the paper, but he’s at least putting in an effort to try to.

Everyone was scheduled to arrive at 1:00 for the celebration. Dave, the bakery chef brought in some Carmel rolls with pecans, cinnamon rolls, and pretzels. Everyone of course dives right into the sweets. Bill of all people wanted a sweet. He first started out with the caramel roll with nuts. He was cute with the way he ate it. He would eat the top, and along the sides, and not touch the middle. When he ran out of nuts and caramel, he decided to kipe a few more off the tray and added it to his roll. When he was done with his first helping, he dove in for another. He must have saved up his sweet tooth for his big day.

Roll #1... oh, those were good, I am going to have another.

We all pretty much sat around most of the afternoon, and gabbed about everything and anything, along with eating way too much food and too many sweets. We all had lots to say, and were able to just enjoy each other’s company.

For a present for Gramps, all of the great grand children decided to make Great Grandpa a b-day poster. They spent most of the afternoon creating this artwork piece, and I must say it turned out great! Good work girls!

(Becky, Ruth & Julianna)

The great grand children decided that they wanted to help put the b-day candles on the cake. Now, keep in mind that when you put 100 hot waxed candles too closely to one another, with a flame, it could turn out to be a waxy pool of mess. They decided to put all 100 candles onto one cake.

When it was time to light the cake, it basically was a ball of fire and created an inferno on the top of the cake. The flames were so hot and high that it melted the candles all the way down to the frosting on the cake. By the time the flames were blown out, there was a massive pool of wax and just the stubs of the candles left on the top of the cake.

(The flaming inferno with 100 candles)

The end result

We decided to take some family photos as well.

The grand kids.

(Basil, Sam, Beth and Brent)

The great grand kids

Becky, Ruth, Austin, and Julies

All this parting, is making gramps feel exhausted.. Few, he finally gets to catch up on some zzz's.

All in all, I am so glad that I was able to celebrate and be a part of this day. I was able to see a family gather for such an awesome occasion, and celebrate this event that come around once in a lifetime. “If we’re lucky” Congrats on your 100^th b-day bill! Way to go.

A Day at the Spa

Relaxation, calmness, piece and quiet, and stress free these are just a few of the things that I was able to experience on lovely Saturday afternoon at Spalon Montage in Chanhassen.

I arrive at the spa about 2:50 ish. I gather up my stuff, and change into my robe so I can get ready for my relaxing massage. I get dress, and I then go into their relaxing spa area, and await for my name to be called so I can go get my massage. The ambiance of the room is quite, music playing and peaceful. I rest my rump down in the leather chair, drink my lemon water and soak in the warmth of the fire place on the other end of the room.

About 3:10 they call my name, and off I go. I walk my way down the hall, enter the massage room, and I then have to get into this comfy looking massage bed. I lay myself in the bed, close my eyes, and relax and enjoy the calmness the music puts into my body.

As the massage therapist is giving me this hour long massage, she says to me, Madam, are you a person who sit all day at a desk, carry heavy things around, and have a lot of stress in your life? I said in reply, gessh, how did you guess that? She said, because madam, “I never get called that” your so tense, and have so many knots, it’s easy to guess.

As she’s continuing and trying to work out these knots in my back, I can feel each one, and then as they pop, it’s like a weird gushy feeling in your back. Must I say that’s not the most pleasant thing of the massage, but it’s worth it to not feel those things in my back again. I am so relaxed and enjoying this massage that I almost fell asleep, but I forced myself to stay away so I could enjoy it. By the end of the 1-hour, I was ready for another 1-hour massage. But, I had other services to get to, so I had to just soak up as much of the massage as I could.

After each service is completed, they always ask do you need anything? Is there anything I can get you? How are you feeling? I love it, people waiting on me hand and foot for a change. What else could a women ask for??

My next service was to have my hair done. I meet up with the hair stylist. She washed and massages my head with the shampoo, it’s so relaxing to have someone rub your head, and I got to watch T.V. while she did that. After my hair was done being washed, she decided to put my hair up in rollers. I then had to sit under this funky looking blow dryer for about 15 minutes, and keep those goofy looking things in my head for 45mins.

My last service of the evening was my pedicure. Pedicures are the best. I got to have my feet soak in the bubbly water, as I sat on a heated chair that had a massager built right into it. (HEAVENLY) I basically relaxed, and didn’t move until this service was over, while my feet were scrubbed, polished, and massaged.

After my pedicure, I finally get to have these goofy looking rollers taken out of my hair. By the time she took them out, I looked like a girl with curly goofy hair, it looked like I put my head in a light socket. But, she toned it down, and it looked fabulous when she was finished.

I was finally done with my day about 6:00 p.m, so a total of 3 hours of being at the spa, and let me tell you it was well worth the wait to get these services done.
So, thanks again to my hubby Brent & sis-in law Hannah for your x-mas presents!! I loved them.