24

Howdy, howdy, howdy! I'm 24 years old now :) I was born on Labor Day and my birthday was on Labor Day this year. Yay! It was a good birthday. I went out to lunch with my bff Andrea at Buffalo Wild Wings. Then I met my parents at the movie theater. We saw The Debt - really good movie. Then my brother and his family came over for supper and cake.

Since my last post, I left you wondering how our team did in our volleyball tournament. We were seeded 3rd out of nine teams. We never got to play the all-girl team again, but we would've definitely beat them if we had, and we ended up with 2nd place!! The team seeded in 8th place won - weird, right? They played the number 1 team and beat them! We watched with wide eyes in hopes that the 1st place team would lose, and they did. Holy crap, it was hilarious :) So we ended up in the championship game with the number 8 team and lost. It's okay. We should've beat them, but they deserved to win. They played a better game than us. It's as simple as that.

Now I'm on a new volleyball league with a different team. We played our first game last night and won. It was fun, as it always is.

Here's a picture of my niece Elsie. She is 2months old now!Elsie and me in August.

Time for a Kinsey Update

Since I've been gone, I need to do a catch-up with the lovely people who (hopefully) still read my blog when I have a new post. I'm crossing my fingers on that one.

1. I've been in bar volleyball league since the end of May. We're pretty good. Probably 2nd in our Wednesday bracket. There's one team that's really good, and a guy on the team wears one long colored sock. It's weird, so we call him the sock man. And whenever we have a really good hit, Jeremy says, "We need to put a sock on you!" Haha, we think it's funny.

2. On Wednesday we played an all-girl team. We had three guys and two girls on our team, since Andrea couldn't make it to the game. The rules are you need to ask the other team if it's okay to play with less girls than guys. I hate asking, and I've only had to ask one other time, but I strolled over to their side of the net and asked politely, "Is it okay if we play with three guys and two girls? My friend is a teacher (put that in there for good measure) and she can't make it."

They were silent for about five seconds too long before one girl said, "This happens to us every week."

"So is it okay?" I asked, completely ignoring her snarky remark.

"Fine."

Good, I thought. Then we started playing and the all-girl team totally sucks!! They are really bad. The snarky one did that one arm hit almost every time a ball came to her. We won all three games easily. Then at the end I heard the captain talking to the ref: "What would have happened if we said no they can't play with more guys?" The ref shrugged - he was probably thinking, it doesn't matter because next week is the tournament and the brackets are already up and you guys suck, so it really doesn't matter.

The girl then said, "Because next time this is not going to happen."

I stood there, signed off on the score sheet, and walked away. Seriously, they are the 2nd to worst team on our league. We could have played with three people and still killed them. I can't wait to play them next week (with our entire team) and really slam it in their faces.

3. I have a new niece in my family. My sister Tyne had her first baby in July. She named her Elsie, and she is soooooo cute! I'm her Godmother too! Yay! She likes to poop though. Just today, she was at our house and my mom was holding her. Then we heard this loud, juicy fart, and my mom pulled her away and Elsie's poop shot out of the side of her diaper - onto my mom's leg and the floor. GROSS! That was a nasty one. But she's still cute :)

4. I'm slowly running out of money. Even with my job (which is now only part-time) I'm just making my loan payments and other bills. It stinks. Thank goodness I live at home and don't have to pay for rent or groceries. Oh no, I just said, "Thank goodness I live at home." Something might be wrong with me.

5. Big Brother is my new favorite reality TV show. I want to be on it so bad! Does anyone else watch it?

6. I'm obsessed with a new show. It's not a "new" show, but it's new to me. I started watching Battlestar Galactica on Netflix Instant, and I LOVE it! It's so good. If anyone is looking for a show that is action/romantic/drama/mystery, then this is a show for you! It's also kind of funny. I started watching it on Sunday and I'm already done with the first season.

Battlestar Galactica

Well, I'm off to a wedding this weekend, and I promise to post more.

Playwright = Me

I'm officially a playwright. I guess I was officially a playwright when I won the competition, but last night I actually felt it when I watched my play, "A Little Bit," on stage. It was a nerve-wracking experience up until last night, but wonderful none-the-less.

Yesterday, I spent my day doubting myself and my play: Would people laugh? Would they enjoy it? I hope they don't walk away from it saying it was a waste of money.

I am my own worst critic. My stomach was in knots...literal knots. I was so nervous that I barely had an appetite. And I always have an appetite.

Anyway, to make a long story short, my play did a fine job. My three actors really played well off of each other and the audience laughed appropriately. I was very touched to have about 25 close friends and family come to the performance just to see my play. That was my favorite part of the whole night.

Wimpy Kid Mania

On Saturday I took my lovely little niece, Caitlyn, to Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. It was really good. Very funny - for both adults and children.

Short review: Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) returns to middle school a year older - 7th grade. This time the movie focuses less on school and more on family with Greg's older brother/tormentor Rodrick (Devon Bostick) as part of the main plot. Their mother (Rachael Harris) bribes the boys with "Mom Bucks" in exchange for brother bonding. The movie soars with undeniable funny family feuding, and the loyal best friend Rowley (Robert Capron) steals a few scenes with his endearing self. Also stars Steve Zahn as Frank Heffley.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

I asked my niece if she liked the first Diary or this one better, and she replied: "This one."

Now I have to tell you about my experience while waiting in line to get popcorn before the movie. We arrived about 25 minutes before the movie started to give us enough time to go to the bathroom, get concessions, and find a good seat. Well, as Caitlyn and I headed to get popcorn, this little girl (about 6) raced in front of us, turned the corner to the concessions stand, and went straight up to the counter.

I noticed right away that she "cut" in line. The people (a high schooler with what looked like her younger sister), now behind her, also noticed but didn't say anything. Caitlyn and I stood in our respective spots in line. About 10 seconds later, the little 6-year-old deviant's father and brother walked up to the stand. The dad asked for five popcorns and two large sodas. The register dude said, "That comes to $40.37."

The dad was outraged at the cost. Meanwhile, Caitlyn asked what time it was. I said I didn't know, but not to worry, because we have a lot of time before the movie starts.

The father then said, "What if I get 3 popcorns and four large sodas?" The poor guy behind the counter told him that the price would still be 40 some bucks. Still outraged the dad said that was too much money. Um, yeah! CAN'T YOU READ THE PRICES IN FRONT OF YOU? Jeez.

I bent down to Caitlyn and said, "See that little girl." Caitlyn nodded. "If she wouldn't have cut in line, we would be sitting in theater by now." Caitlyn nodded again with an extra eye roll. I looked to my right and saw that the other line for concessions was moving at a regular pace. Ugh, I couldn't switch lines now, we were so close! So I stayed in my line with an annoyed look on my face.

Back to the father: Finally he decided on a large popcorn combo and another soda. The register guy asked him what kind of soda he wanted. And ya' know what? The father didn't know. He asked his two kids what they wanted...they didn't know either. So they THOUGHT about it for awhile.

Ohmigosh! I was starting to lose it. I was seriously going to throw some punches soon. Caitlyn looked at me again and asked what time it was. I told her again that we still have lots of time. I honestly had no idea what time it was, but I didn't want to worry Caitlyn that we might be late for our movie, because of some indecisive/unprepared parent. People in line behind me were also getting annoyed, shuffling their feet and rubbing their foreheads.

After they paid, the line moved fast, since everyone had plenty of time to decide on what they wanted. It's really a no-brainer...this theater concession stuff. Pretty much everyone I hear in line knows what they want before they get there. It's not like people are deciding on a five-course meal here.

When it was my turn to order I simply said, "One large popcorn with butter. That's it." Wow, that took me less than a minute to order, pay, and receive my food.

I like people. I do. But when some people pull a "stunt" like this, I get really annoyed. Quietly annoyed. I would never throw punches...haha, I wouldn't ever even say anything. I'm too scared to do something reckless like that.

Anyway, after the movie was done, Caitlyn and I walked to my car, and Caitlyn said, "Remember that girl who cut in line?"
I said, "Yeah."
"Well," Caitlyn said, "We would've gotten our popcorn a lot faster if she didn't cut."

Yep.

Squirrel!!!

I've never been squirrel shooting before. I know people who really enjoy the sport, because it's fast-paced and it really tests your shooting accuracy.

We have a big gray squirrel that eats out of our bird feeder in the backyard. Yesterday, my niece and nephew were at our house, and I pointed out to them the squirrel gobbling up the bird seed.

I said, "I'm gonna get the BB gun!" They both smiled in excitement. Aunt Kinsey is going hunting!

Outside on the deck I squatted with the gun pointed at the bird feeder. No squirrel in sight. In the window were four little eyes staring at me with their noses pressed to the pane. Connor gave me a thumbs up and Addie blew me a kiss.

I was a warrior ready for battle against the evil gray-haired squirrel. When he returned, I was going to pop him one and scare him away for good.

After 10 minutes of standing in the 30 degree winter weather, I shivered in disappointment and went back inside, defeated. The squirrel must have known that I was out there. Sneaky little vermin.

All three of us sat inside and watched out the window for the return of the chubby mammal. And what to our hunting eyes did appear? A little red squirrel. Good enough for me!!

I ran out of the house, sneaked up the tiny fuzzball, and aimed. I missed. The little thing sprinted towards the woods. In turn, I stepped on the bench railing of our deck and shot again. He knew I was after him, and he ran away in fright.

Maybe tomorrow, or the next day, or sometime in the future the squirrel and I will meet again. And I will be ready. Yes, I will be ready. Connor gave me some good advice that I'll have to take into account next time: He said, "Aunt Kinsey, I think you need to wear camouflage."

What I Overheard

Last night, I didn't go to Trivia. Kory had homework and Andrea and Jeremy had church to attend. So my mom and I went out to eat and to a movie - Just Go With It. The movie was great! Really funny. I loved it.

We ate at Perkins because it was Customer Appreciation Week and they had some really good deals. A family of five sat behind me. Two little boys and a girl. I overheard a lot of their conversations, and I just have to share some of what I heard, because it was so cute.

The mom to her son: "I love you too much to argue with you."

The mom asking one of her sons: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
He replied, "I want to be an electricity man like my uncle!"

The two boys conversing about K-Mart across the street: "How many cars do you think are out there?"
"20-30, maybe 55."
"I think 2." He laughs, "No, I don't think 2. I was joking." He laughs more.

It was just so fun to listen to these kids talk. And while they kept me interested, the little girl in the high chair kept smiling at my mom. I'm happy to say that these kids didn't complain or scream or cry about anything after their mom said, "I love you too much to argue with you." Good parenting. Good job!

Wednesday Musings: Take Fourteen

I haven't done a Wednesday Musing in awhile. I thought it was time for one.

-My nephew, Alec, loves game shows. He's only 7 months old! He loves Family Feud, Jeopardy, and The Price is Right! It's so funny. He likes watching The Today Show with Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb too. Is it time for an intervention?

-Yesterday I went for a run and I saw six people snowshoeing by the creek. Good for them.

-CBS' new show Mad Love on Monday is really funny. Watch it.

-I recently watched the movie Trick 'r' Treat on Netflix and it's a great Halloween movie. I wish it would've been on instant streaming this Halloween, because it would've royally freaked me out. Needless to say, watching in in February didn't make it less scary. I watched most of it through my fingers.

Twas a Blog Before Christmas

I've already finished my Christmas shopping, I've sent out my cards, I've watched some holiday movies, and I've even opened up some presents.

We celebrated Christmas with my siblings last weekend, because on real Christmas they will be celebrating with their in-laws. Only my sister and I will be home for the holidays.

Normally on Christmas Eve we go to church, have our meal, open up our new pajamas, play some games, watch a movie or two, then read "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

When Christmas morning arrives (no earlier than 6am...that's a rule in our house) we get up and see what Santa left us under our tree. Even at the age of 23 Santa still gives me a gift or two ;)

A couple hours later my parents wake up and we open up our gifts from each other. The rest of the day is spent much like the night before - playing games (Scrabble is our favorite), watching old holiday tv episodes, movies, and snacking on leftovers.

And because I've had this week off from work (yes, I'm very lucky) I've been waiting patiently for Christmas Day to arrive. When I was little I wished for it to come as fast as it could, but now that I'm older I wish for it to last a little longer. For it is the waiting that really makes Christmas special to me.

Merry Christmas to all my blog followers. I hope you all have a safe, happy, and healthy holiday and a wonderful new year!!!

Old News: Black Friday is the Blackest of Fridays...Especially at Walmart

Walmart people are the worst. That was my Facebook status on the day after Thanksgiving at about 2 o'clock in the AM!! And ya know what! They truly are the WORST! Let me start from the beginning.

Wednesday while I was visiting my bestie Andrea, she asked me to go Black Friday shopping with her. Aaaand since I had a few too many drinks I said yes! Later, I tried to get out of it, but I think I'm kind of a people pleaser so I just agreed (again) to shop with her on the darkest day of the year.

Thursday came with a wallop of turkey, potatoes, stuffing (YUM), and other good food. My siblings and I searched through the flyers of "must have deals and doorbusters" when my sister, Tyne, said, "Let's get dad a TV." Target had an awesome deal, and I agreed that I would stand in line with her. So I promised Andrea that I would shop with her and then my sister too. Knowing that Andrea would understand, I was able to work out my shopping plans so that I could do Target with Tyne and then meet up with Andrea for the rest of the morning.

As I searched the flyers for the umpteenth time, I figured that I could run to Walmart and grab a few DVDs too. Might as well, right? Wrong.

Friday morning came faster than ever. I dropped Tyne off at Target so she could stand in line. The time was 1:00 AM. I dashed off to Walmart to get those cheap DVDs. Well, all the ones I wanted/needed were gone except for one. So I grabbed it, dialed Tyne's cell to tell her that I would probably be awhile since the lines are disgustingly long at Walmart, and then got in line. Thinking I was at the end of the line I shut my cell phone. The lady in front of me turned around with a nasty wicked witch of the west look and said, "Ya' know...it's not nice to cut!"

I apologized immediately and said that I didn't even realize I cut. She didn't care. She just turned around to her heaping cart full of Walmartness, and I politely moved to find a new line. I felt bad, yes, but I didn't know I was cutting. I swear! I never even cut in the lunch line when it was tater-tot hotdish day!!

After I found a new line, I stood there with my DVD for 20 minutes. The line didn't budge once!! So I left the DVD in the greeting card aisle and went back to my sister empty-handed.

Yes, Walmart people are the worst. The store was a mess on Black Friday. The lines were atrocious. There was no order or method to the check-out lanes and they didn't even have all of the lanes open. Plus, that lady was mean to me, and she made me feel bad.

After Target opened at 4:00 AM, I got the TV, grabbed a couple of DVDs and other things and was checked out in about 15 minutes. Target was well prepared with everything. Therefore, Target people are the best.

The rest of the morning went well when I met up with Andrea. All the other stores did a good job with all the madness of shopping too. Props to Sam's Club, Younkers, Menards, and Target.

But Walmart, shame on you!

**Honestly, I have nothing against Walmart on the other days of the year. In fact, I shop there a lot. But I will never Black Friday shop there again**

OMG...MIA

I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry that I haven't posted in almost 20 days. I feel really bad, but I've also been really busy.

I checked my phone this morning and I saw that I had a comment on my last blog. One of my followers was checking up on me. So of course, I had to blog right away. It means a lot to me that my followers are still thinking about me even though my blogging days have gone from everyday to once or twice every month. Seriously, if I had wireless in my house, I would still be blogging almost every single day, and that's a Kinsey Promise.

So what have I been up to??? Let me tell you.

My best friend Andrea got married on August 14th, so that whole was full of things for me to do :)

Speaking of that week (wow, my transitions are a little rusty) I got offered a job!! WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I was on the computer looking for jobs, as usual, on Friday the 7th. I noticed that a temp agency was looking to place someone as an order assembler in Menomonie. I emailed the agency my resume and within 5 minutes - no joke, 5 minutes - they called me saying that they were interested. So I did an interview with them on the 10th, they called me the same day saying that the company wanted to do an interview with me. I had an interview with Big Dot of Happiness in Menomonie on Wednesday, and they wanted to hire me. Everything happened really fast and I was so happy that someone wanted to hire me...so happy!! Finally :)

Anyway, on Friday the 13th (cue eerie music) I drove into Eau Claire with the bride and the bridesmaids and we all got our nails done. Then we had rehearsal in this beautiful Catholic church. After, of course, we had the dinner. It was a dark and stormy night, and the dinner was at a park. Luckily, I left before the torrential rains came down.

On Saturday, the 14th, I woke up bright and early to get my hair done. Then we spent our morning and afternoon at the church getting ready and walking down the aisle - strictly wedding stuff :)

Bridesmaids and Andrea

I was the maid-of-honor, and very honored to be in Andrea's wedding. You see, we've been friends since kindergarten. I remember the first day of school when Andrea held tight to her mother's legs. Ever since that day or the day after, we've been really good friends.

Putting earrings in! My sister made Andrea's jewelry :)

The wedding was beautiful, Andrea looked gorgeous, and the entire bridal party looked stunning together.Me and Andrea

So on Sunday, after a night of drinking and dancing and partying like a rock star, I rode up with my parents to my sister's house for my goddaughter's 2nd birthday. Little Addie!!! She is such a cutie pie :) I took her outside for a little bit and as we were walking around the yard barefoot I stepped in some mud...or poop. Fearing that it was the latter, I sat down on the deck stairs and wiped off this brown substance with a leaf. But no worries, it was mud. Addie looked at me, bent down to grab some grass, and then proceeded to wipe off her little toes with it.

Addie and me (this summer)

We arrived back home around 10:00pm and with the new job on my brain, I barely got a wink of sleep before waking up at 6:30 the next day. Monday, the 16th, was my first day at Big Dot of Happiness, and boy was I tired. I pushed through it though, and had a pretty darn good day.

I had a pretty darn good week, for that matter. I work with wonderful people who are polite and friendly to give me a hand or answer a question I might have. Basically what I do is put together invitations and party supplies (like favor boxes, stickers, thank you cards, candle favor tins, and other party favor things...I've been doing favor boxes all week just to get used to everything). You can check out their website if you're curious about the company.

All week I've been coming home from work, putting my feet up, and going to bed around 9:00. I think I've gotten used to waking up and working from 9-5 now, so bring on next week!

MIA...yes, but you see that I've had one helluva month so far. I'll try to keep up as best as I can with all of your blogs and writing on my own. Again, I apologize for not keeping you all in the loop.

And before I forget, I got my haircut on Thursday. I'll post of picture of that next week.

Wednesday Musings: Take Eleven

My new favorite shows are The Closer, Rizzoli and Isles, and Hot in Cleveland. Granted, The Closer isn't a "new" series, but it's the first I've watched it...and let me tell you, "It's Kinsey Approved!"

I applied for an administrative assistant position for a chiropractic office last Sunday, and last Monday they called me, but I was asleep (as it was 9 am and I had no reason to start my day early), so my niece picked up the phone and told them that I was asleep. She took the message like a young Pam Beasley and when I woke up about 15 minutes later I returned the call. The secretary answered and had no idea that I was called, but said she would find out who called me and then have them call me back. I waited and waited and waited and waited. I waited for a couple more days and then I called them back, thinking that they were probably really busy. So I explained to this dude on the phone who I was and asked them what the situation was on my call back, he said he would figure it out and have someone call me. Well, no one called me back and I don't care if they hired someone else, but at least have the decency to tell me. GOSH!

That was a long musing, but I had to get it out there. I feel better now.

I got caught in a storm again. Just my luck, right? I went to River Falls to visit a friend and I had just left her place when it started to rain cats and dogs. I made it about 5 miles down the road when I had to turn back after getting a call from my mom and then my friend saying the sirens were going off. So I stayed in River Falls for another hour waiting for the storm to pass. Is God trying to send me some sort of message via storms??

I got a new phone!! It's a Palm Pre Plus, and it rocks! It totally rocks! I'm in love with it. I thought about doing a blog from it, but it would take me a really long time, so I'm not going to. Maybe someday...when I master, of course, the little keypad of abc's.

On the way to see Ramona and Beezus with my niece who takes messages for me while I'm sleeping, I told Caitlyn that I'm like Beezus and she's like Ramona - since she doesn't have a big sister, only and older brother, and I don't think he's the Selena Gomez type. But after the movie (which was really good!) I told her that I could be her "Aunt Bea" and she can still be Ramona. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, Aunt Bea, is Aunt Beatrice, Ramona's mom's sister...even though I'm Caitlyn's dad's sister...man, this is falling apart in front of my eyes.

Here's a still from the movie. Aunt Bea, Beezus, Ramona, and Dorothy Quimby

I'm sitting downstairs with my hood up. It's that kind of night. Plus my hair is wet from swimming, and I don't want to freeze down here.

Why Facebook, Why?

I haven't been on Facebook in awhile. The sparkle that was once in my eye for that special networking site has faded. I've been a Facebook member since high school, and I used to waste away my day looking at pictures, searching for new buttons that expressed who I am, and adding more information to an already jam-packed profile.

Now, as a 22 (almost 23 year old) the last thing I did was post pictures from this summer. I had to...you see, my newest nephew was born on the 17th, and I had the Facebook urge to show my friends and relatives his cute, little baby face. His name, if you would like to know is Alec Boyd Bodenburg. And I have a feeling I will love him just as much as I love Alec Baldwin.

The day he was born I traveled to the nearest computer to write in my status a congratulatory statement to my brother and his wife. My sister, Tyne, had already written one, and so had my brother (the father of Alec) - earlier in the morning after Alec was born. Then I realized that this information on my six hour old nephew had already gone viral!

Back in the day, when dinosaurs weren't able to chat with their prehistoric buddies via Facebook chat, since it was down (as it almost always is), they had to telephone people, send letters, walk to their neighbor's house to deliver news of any sort. Now, I can go on my laptop and type in a simple sentence and have hundreds of friends know instantly.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it seems like not long ago, we were a more connected society. And through physical contact we achieved this.

Likewise, I can go on Facebook and find out in about ten minutes of browsing, who is pregnant, who is single, who got laid-off, and who got drunk the weekend before. I can see who got a new tattoo, who scored the highest in the racing game, who would "rather be enjoying the nice weather instead of working," and who is putting their child down for a nap and will be back to Facebook shortly. This social network is more of a private network seen socially by anyone who is "friends" with someone else.

But this isn't all bad. On the contrary, word spreads fast on Facebook and you can learn a lot about someone or something that is going on. I agree that Facebook is a nice way to massively spread information and share good news - like my nephew, Alec.

But I also think that maybe we should step back a bit, and not share anything and everything that happens to us the moment it happens. I don't want to know about the hair clog in your sink drain. I don't need to know that (Pet name here) peed all over the carpet, and I definitely don't want to know when you woke up, went to bed, or when you are eating.

If you would send out a public announcement about an engagement, wedding, baby arrival, and/or change of address to your friends and family, then it is okay to post that on Facebook.

If you call up your mother every time you take a bite out of your sandwich...then I would think twice about letting your Facebook friends know, because, honestly, we don't care.

(I've been subject to writing useless Facebook status updates in the past...I think we all have)

The Pool

No one floated a Baby Ruth in the pool today...darn. That would have added more excitement to my day at the pool with my two little nephews - Tate and Easton.

Let's begin with some poop instead then, real poop. Baby Easton's poop. Let me emphasize baby, since it was green - GREEN - and mushy. Very, very, very mushy. Why am I telling you this? Because, his fecal material, if you can even call it that, spread like a wildfire through his diaper and out of his diaper, and onto his pretty blue outfit - now with accents of green.

Luckily, this was the worst part of the whole day. And guess what, Aunt Kinsey didn't even think to bring another outfit. She's so smart. I'm talking about myself in the 3rd person, this needs to stop.

After I changed him and washed out his clothes the best I could with a bottle of water and baby wipes, Easton wore his Little Swimmers with style.

Tate was very easy to watch at the pool. All he did was jump in the pool, climb the ladder out, jump in, climb out, jump in, climb out, and jump in continuously for three hours. Easy as pie. No poop in Tate's pants, that's for sure.

At this public pool, the lifeguards whistle on the hour so the kids get a "safety break." Now this is a good idea. Tate came back for some water drinking and relaxation for ten minutes. He even told me, "If I wasn't sitting here for my break, then I'd be doing cannonballs right now."

We all had a snack - Tate had a corndog, Easton and I shared Dippin' Dots with Tate after he scarfed down his corndoggie. Then it was back to swimming and a Little Swimmer change for Easton. He was sagging a bit.

Easton enjoyed the water for a little bit longer then I tried to feed him his bottle, but he fell asleep in about five minutes. So I sat with him as he slept. That was about it for our pool day.

When I read this to Tate before I posted it, he wanted to add a little more, so this is what he told me to type:

Tate and another boy and Alex jumped the waves when everybody went in the water. - Spoken from the mouths of babes ;)

It was the perfect day to go to the pool and spend time with my Minnesota nephews (even though Tate has enough good sense to wear a Brewers shirt today).

Wednesday Musings: Take Ten

Twenty minutes and this is no longer a Wednesday Musings, but a Thursday Mistakes.

I drove my mom's boat...I mean Buick all the way to St. Francis, MN to visit my brother and his family. I drove through a storm (tornado like), almost hydroplaned, screamed after the radio told me that a tornado has been spotted, and then drove like a short old woman who has to sit really close to the steering wheel to see out the windshield about 20 minutes after "the storm" passed.

Despicable Me is really funny.

Why is the Northern Wisconsin State Fair called the Northern Wisconsin State Fair? It's in Chippewa Falls, WI...and that isn't in Northern Wisconsin - it's 20 some minutes from my house.

My brother gave me a Spiderman blanket to sleep with tonight. I'm almost too excited to fall asleep.

Blogger thinks Spiderman is spelled wrong, because it's showing red squiggly lines underneath it. Doesn't blogger know who Spiderman is? I mean, he's no Batman, but come on.

My nephew, Tate, was watching Ghost Hunters on Syfy tonight. He's not even eight yet and he's watching Ghost Hunters...alone...in his basement. He is so BRAVE!!!

I laid in a hammock tonight, and I really, really, really, really want one. Maybe when I'm older.

Why did Casey Schuler have to Die???

All hands on deck! Let's kill that little monkey from Outbreak. His virus just killed Kevin Spacey's character.

Bummer...too late, if only I posted this sooner.

Anywho, if I'm not a slacker in the blogging world than my name is Fraulein Sausage Fingers.

I almost hate myself for not posting all week, then I think, "Hey, I've been enjoying the sunshine and the pool, and this is summer and I don't really like sitting in the cold basement anyway (since we don't have wireless, I have to plug my computer in downstairs)."

So let me do a quick review with you all:

I almost died three times this week. Yup...three.

First almost deadly occurrence: 4th of July - A rocket firework that is supposed to shoot thirty feet in the air didn't. The stick that was holding it upright burned off, my dad tried to stomp it out, but he couldn't, so he ran, my brother ran, my nephew almost ran, and we all watched as it shot off at us. Okay, so it wasn't as "deadly" as I thought, and if I was outside and really close to it I might have burned myself. This one was a stretch. What can I say...I'm an exaggerater.

Second occurrence: Yesterday - in the parking lot of WalMart. Let me paint the picture for you. My mom drove around the parking lot with my older sister, Kyrstin, in the front seat. I sat in the back behind my mom. "There's a spot!" someone shouted. Yay, we all thought to ourselves, nice and close. So my mom drove down the lane, but had to back up. She put the car in PARK. Then my sister says, "That car is backing up, it's going to hit us!" I look to my left and a jeep/suv/bigger than our vehicle is backing up towards us as my mom is trying to figure out why our car isn't backing up. Kyrstin starts banging on her window with her fist (thinking the idiot who is backing up will hear her), my mom doesn't realize the car is still in PARK, so she is wondering what the heck is wrong with the car, I'm just staring as the back of the green vehicle approaches us (I don't know why I didn't go into panic mode), all the while Kyrstin is still SCREAMING and still BANGING on the window!!!! Finally my mom lays on the horn. The green vehicle stops, we finally pull forward as my mom shifts into DRIVE, and then we all laughed for about five minutes straight.

Third and final occurrence: Aldi - it's the first time I've ever been in that store, and I come home and I get sick. I now have a stuffy nose and an off and on sore throat. I should've never went to the bathroom there...they had no soap. Ick. I will never set foot in that store again (at least not the Eau Claire one).

Alright, fine, so I never really ever came close to dying in those stories...but I could have. I now know what Kevin Spacey's character went through - poor guy.

Stone Hands, Monsters, and Baseball

On the two-hour trip to watch my nephew, Tate play baseball, I sat between an almost two year old squawk box and a five year old that talks until your ear falls off.

Here are some highlights from the trip...

- I told a "scary" story about a brother and sister that thought Frankenstein was in their attic.

- Connor turned my hands into stone hands and ice hands.

- At one point all three of us were reading magazines. Fitness for me, Playmobile for Connor, and Fisher Price for Addie.

- After a drive-thru run at McDonalds, Connor plugged his nose and said, "It SMELLS!!" He was referring to my cheeseburger. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't eat it. He told me to throw it out the window, because it smelled so bad.

- Later Connor asked us what monsters we wanted to be. He was the Headless Horseman, Addie was a witch, I was a vampire, Grandma was a mummy, and Grandpa was a zombie.

- On the way home we played the no talking game. The silence lasted for about ten minutes, then Connor whispered to me, "When is it over?"

The baseball game: Tate did a wonderful job playing ball. It was his last game of the season, so he received a medal too! He looked pretty proud. I watched him play catcher and complete two outs, hit the ball and run the bases, and play defense in the field. Pretty basic baseball stuff ;) I've watched a lot of kids play baseball in my years, and I have to say that Tate is a pretty good ballplayer. He listens to his coaches and really pays attention to the game.

Tate batting

Me and my little nephew Easton (I think he's going to be a ballplayer too)

It was like a Beach Boys song

I played sand volleyball last night. A friend of ours needed two players to fill in and luckily both my sister Kyrstin and I were able to help out. We played three games and had a lot of fun.

Oh the joys of sand volleyball...the list is endless:

1. You can sport a nice tan or work on one.

2. Beer...need I say more? (I just drank water though)

3. The competition is always fun.

4. Taking your frustrations out on the volleyball.

5. Diving for a ball just feels really good.

Okay, so the list is not "endless."

So last night as we played this team of middle aged people, I noticed this lady in a pink shirt who would only use one arm to hit the ball. There was nothing wrong with her other arm, she just used the one arm to bump the ball. Oddly enough, the ball would go over almost every time. I couldn't help but laugh when she successfully got the ball over the net with this one-arm technique.

Then it started to frustrate me when the other team, as poor as their volleyball skills were, would score on us. I mean, our team consisted of four previous Elk Mound High School Volleyball teammates and two guys who actually knew how to hit the ball. Hmmmph! We should've killed them with our awesome talent ;)

We did end up winning all three games and I think we beat them by a pretty good margin each time, so that made me feel good about myself. But if I hit like One-Arm Pinkerbell, my hits would've went sailing left or right into the other court, since I was properly trained to hit a volleyball the right way.

Let me end on this note: Although I had a great time playing, I didn't appreciate the sand in my face, hair, crevices, and holes. And get your head out of the gutter - EAR holes .

Just Keep Swimming

Today is the first day that we are using our pool this year. We've had some pretty crappy weather up to this point. Also, we had to put in a new liner, since ours has weathered for about 20 years.

It's supposed to be 88 degrees and sunny! Yes!!! HOT WEATHER! I love it.

I remember as a kid swimming with my brothers and sisters. Oftentimes, we would set up a volleyball net and have friends over to play. Then we got a slide. That was a very exciting time for us.

We found that we would slide down faster if we put my kickboard under us as we went down the slide. Surprisingly, no one got hurt.

When I was really young, I remember being thrown into the pool by my older brothers - Blake more than Boyd. This resulted in time-outs for Blake, and me crying (of course!).

Luckily for me, I grew up with two pools to play in. My neighbor, Dusty, also had a pool. Dusty and I spent most of our summer afternoons in the pool playing "Shark" with his older brother Derek. Then Dusty and I would get tired of swimming, so we would build forts on the deck out of lawn chairs, towels, and pool toys. That was my favorite.

As far back as I can remember, swimming has always meant summer to me. It's sad that I've grown away from being thrown in the pool and playing "Shark" with Dusty, but we all have to grow up...that doesn't mean I have to stop from forever playing those games though - I have young nieces and nephews!

Surprise!

I decided to wake up early this morning. Well, I didn't really "decide" to, but I couldn't fall back asleep. It was 6:30 AM.

This is early for me.

So I tossed and turned for a twenty minutes or so and then finally decided that falling back asleep and sleeping until 10:00 AM was a lost cause.

After a thinking about what my plans were going to be for the rest of the day...since I now have the WHOLE day to do things, I got out of bed, made my bed (this is also a first in a long time), and went upstairs.

The first person I saw - my mom. "What are you doing up so early?" she said.

I told her my dilemma about not being able to fall back asleep. Her conclusion: "You're finally on a normal sleep schedule."

The next person I saw - my sister-in-law. She gave me a funny look- "You're up early."

"Yep," I said.

My niece Caitlyn and my nephew Billy were the only ones not to give me grief this morning.

I decided to start my day early. I know this is really out of character for me, but in the realm of things, this is not the weirdest thing that I've done.

Then I went on my run, came back and stretched and stuff, saw my sister - "Did you already run?" she asked me.

I sat on the floor with my shirt pooled with sweat and my hair looking like I dunked my head in water, and thought to myself No, this is what I look like when I wake up in the morning. "Yeah," I said. (Kyrstin was pretty groggy this morning, so I felt my sarcasm would only make her crabby)

After my shower I went back downstairs and my nephew Connor screamed, because I was in a towel. Little does he know that he will soon love ladies in only towels. (Just not his relatives).

I ran into my dad and he said, "Super Kinsey's awake."

Yes, yes, yes, Super Kinsey is awake and ready to take on whatever this Monday is going to bring her.

"Tell it to me in Star Wars"

I asked my five year old nephew, Connor, what I should blog about today.
Connor: "Star Wars."

Me: "What about Star Wars?"

Connor: "It's AWESOME!!"

So in honor of Connor, that is all I'm saying about Star Wars in this blog post. I agree that it is awesome, and I don't want to ruin a good thing by talking anymore about it.

Instead, I'll show you all pictures from my wonderful Brewers weekend! Enjoy :)The whole family

Courtesy of my sister-in-law, April, is me with my Farfrompuken sticker.
Also, the necklace I'm wearing was made by sister, Tyne.

Tailgating