New Car Coming!

After driving the GMC Terrain, Ford Edge and Mazda CX7 I have decided on the Terrain and we made a deposit today.

We custom ordered one a few weeks ago and it's officially mine now. Unfortunately it's scheduled to be made on November 23rd so it won't be here until December. I'm very excited. It's loaded up - the SLT2 and we got the DVD players which come in the back of the seats, not the headrests so the screens are bigger. Black and lots of chrome so it's got some bling bling.

The best part is the gas mileage - because I got the 4 cylindar as long as I push the Eco button I can get the same or better gas mileage as I get with my Volvo S40. The back seat slides forwards and backwards 8 inches so when the kids are in the car I can have it forward and slide it back for leg room when we have another couple with us.

Hello from Lake Taco

Our living space.


From the beach outside our room.


View from our balcony.

We are at Lake Tahoe on vacation, or as Sam keeps calling it - Lake Taco. It is very beautiful and peaceful here. The beach is rather deserted and the water is calm. I am trying to relax and chill out. Looking forward to a full body massage at the spa tomorrow.

The kids are having a vacation with their grandmas. I'm sure I'll get to come back to sugar loaded, sleep deprived, spoiled, undisciplined little monsters. But for now they are loving it.

We have a cozy 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath cottage complete with mini kitchen and a fire roaring in the fire place.

I am the only one of the four of us that is up on my gaming. I'm up on roulette and slots. We all learned how to play basic craps but I don't think that is my game. Anna and Carter's birthdays both won on roulette for me.

Heading to Indy

Trying to finish packing and I'm very indecisive. Hence four pairs of shoes plus a few extra outfits and running gear for every climate and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need an extra bag to get back so might have to pack that too. Ugh.

I think I did 5 loads of laundry plus dishes and errands and grocery shopping and I never got that nap I planned for the weekend to bank some sleep.

They've got us busy from 8:00 am to 11:30+ and I'm planning heels the whole time so my feet are going to hurt when I get back.

Speaking on Wed at 4:15 eastern time, just for a few minutes but think of me and wish me luck.

I'll be mostly updating on twitter. #et09 follow me @emailgirl if you're interested in email marketing tips, trends, or just my take on the conference in general.

good luck with the kids sweetie! although I always hear they are better behaved when I'm not around. I will miss you guys!!

Fell off the wagon

I was doing so good on my running. I even lost two more pounds and another pant size. I'm one pound away from goal weight.

Then I caught a cold last weekend. And I worked late every night. And it got really cold outside. And it rained one day for 24 hours. And voila I haven't run in a week.

I'm going to try to run 10 miles tomorrow. Maybe that's a bad idea. Maybe I will only do 8. The KC Half Marathon is a week from tomorrow so I feel I need to get a longer run in to be ready.

Next week I'll be out of town for work so it's going to be a challenge to get my runs in. Although in an email today they said if you are interested in going for a jog on Wednesday and Thursday to text in for special updates. I am, so I did. Maybe I'll get a few outside runs in in Indy after all.

Oh yeah, and I convinced one of my co-workers to sign up for the half marathon with me and she hasn't run in 3 months so we ought to make a good pair this week trying to run before the race, ha!

Not Stray Dogs

So Tassie and I ran last week on Friday and Saturday. On Friday I noticed what I thought was a fox and then decided was a stray dog because it didn't have a furry tail like a fox. On Saturday as I entered a neighborhood across from us a dog ran from a house and right in front of us and bolted across the street barking and running through the neighborhood waking everyone up at 5:45 in the morning, on a Saturday.

Last night I realized I'm an idiot and these aren't stray dogs, they are coyotes! In this neighborhood! Kind of freaky.

I bought a new leash yesterday for Tassie, Gentle Lead. It's supposed to keep her from pulling. We tested it out walking around the neighborhood yesterday. Tomorrow I think I will try it running. I'm tired of her practically pulling me off my feet to chase a squirrel.

Fall festival carnival

Every year our city has a fall festival weekend. There is a parade and carnival and the kids love it. This year it was a little cold with the wind but we still had a good time.

Watching the parade and collecting candy.


The slide was not as fast as you would think. Here's Anna.



Here's Candi and Alex. He cried so hard when they got done cause he wanted to do it again.



These swings were pretty fast.


I think the train ride was probably the best. They were giggling and laughing so hard it made Candi and I laugh hysterically too.



Anna said this ride was boring.

The boys seemed to like it.

We also ate corn dogs and cheesy fries. Good times.

A day with my hubby and the ongoing kidney stone saga

On Thursday Kevin and I spent the day together. While we both have Thursdays off it is actually pretty unusual that we spend the day together. I am usually running errands of some sort and Kevin is usually working on the house of some sort.

I got a new pair of glasses since I lost mine a few years ago and they have never turned up. We exchanged a cable box that wasn't working. We had my car valued for trade in at car max. They didn't want to give me as much as I'd hoped. I test drove the new 2010 GMC Terrain. And liked it. While we waited for them to run numbers and value my car for trade-in we sat and listened to the God music station they had piped in. I asked Kevin if he thought God wanted me to buy this car. It was so blaring it was weird. Then when they wanted to give us the EXACT same amount for my trade-in as car max we realized we are morons because we'd left the car max report in the car and they took it for a drive and probably read it.

I did two conference calls for work remotely. And I got a KUB x-ray because some days I feel like I still have a kidney stone.

The Dr. called and said I don't have anymore stones so it could be scar tissue from the lithotripsy procedures. So I will need to get an ultrasound to see if the scarring is mild (expected) or moderate to severe. The time frame for developing this is apparently two-three months post-procedure so I'm right in the window for that. I hope to have this done this week and get results. It hasn't bothered me the last two days so maybe it's getting better.

6 Adults, 5 Kids. At least we still out-number them.

Last weekend we took a trip to visit one of Kevin's old roommates from college. Sam and Candi and their little boy also joined us because Sam and Kevin and Chip all roomed together in school.

6 adults, 5 kids ages 5 and under. It was loud and exhausting but also a lot of fun. We went to a dinosaur museum on Saturday. Turns out half of the building inside was a dinosaur museum. The other half? A haunted house.

So as we're perusing huge model dinosaurs you have the ambiance of doors slamming, people screaming, and horns honking. The kids were pretty scared. The longer we were there the funnier it got to me and I got to laughing so hard I was crying.

Afterwards we ate at Ruby Tuesday. After I took Carter to the bathroom and had just praised him for his excellent behavior so far we got back to the table and he threw his fork on the floor. I tried to reason with him in the restaurant but he started kicking the wall. I took him out to the lobby where he then proceeded to bite me when I forced him to sit on the bench. Then he started screaming really loud so we went outside until he could work it out and then returned to the table. He was fine after that.

After lunch we went to a place that had some kiddy rides to let the kids burn off some steam.




On Saturday night we ate at a great steakhouse called Doe's. Carter accidentally hit himself in the head with the toy etch-a-sketch he was playing with while we waited to order. He had a bruise on the side of his head above his ear. Then he had another "episode" here where he threw his fork on the floor and I had to take him outside. He was crying so hard and had snot everywhere and someone coming into the restaurant even brought us some napkins which was funny. Of course he wouldn't let me wipe his nose because he was throwing a defiant tantrum but it made me laugh. I just stayed calm and let him work it out and then he's fine.

My kids loved Chip and Steph's playground equipment and the first thing Anna would do in the morning was ask to go outside. She would come in soaked from the dew on the grass and swings and slides but she was having a great time. Even at home they have been spending a lot of time outside which is good. Anna was really good while we were there. I think Charlie had a crush on her. He wanted to sit by her all the time and was always asking "where's anna?" it was cute.

On Sunday we fed their neighbor's horses some carrots.




On Sunday right before we were about to leave Carter fell on the rock steps leading up to the front door. I didn't see it but luckily he didn't need stitches. He had what looked like road rash on the left side of his face. After a few nights of Aquaphor it has completely healed surprisingly well.

I had a lot of fun but was actually excited to go back to work on Monday. Carter didn't sleep great down there so he was a grump on the way back. I'm sure his face also hurt. Then after we got back Anna was testing my patience and arguing with me about everything.

So it was a welcome change to be back to the grind for the week for me after that. Thanks for hosting C&S!! You have a beautiful home and were very gracious to let us destroy the house :) And thank you Steph for mailing me my iPhone wall charger I left behind!