Camping and Circus

Once again, I have to report I had a fabulous weekend. Friday night I went camping with the Ashlee department; Ashlee Bradford and Ashley Fife and the men. I started the night out in usual Mickie style, that is, by forgetting to bring the S'mores stuff. After we got the tents put up (with Sand dune of course...), me and the girls went all the way back down the canyon to buy some stuff from the 7-11. After returning to the camp, we realized that we weren't going to have enough wood either (it was so cold!) so Eric and Chris went back down to same 7-11 to get wood. Then we were set for the night. It was so nice to get that one camping trip in, I can't believe summer is over. There were so many other things we wanted to do, we will definitely need to plan better next year.




I have never claimed to be photogenic, and I think the following pictures -including this one- are futher proof that I am not.... Ashlee B in the middle, Ashley F on the right....

My Ashlies....

Saturday Eric and I picked up our new laptop from PC Laptops.... once again, I have a sneaking suspicion that we paid too much. But now Eric can get his papers done for school without having to be gone for hours and hours. Then we were off to the U of U game, they played Weber State and it was a nice safe blow-out, but not as much as Eric was hoping for.

Further evidence... need I say more? The truly sad thing is is that out of the 5+ pictures I took, this one is actually the best.

Sunday we went to the Circus with Ashlee (B) and Jake. It was fun, except it seemed like they way over did it with the clowns... I don't remember them being so obnoxious last time I went. I would have loved to have taken the kids, they had sweet tiger tricks that Rena would have loved and Tommy would have gotten a kick out of the clowns.

The horses were, of course, my favorite but I didn't get a single decent picture! They were all blurry.

Eric got us tickets in the suite so for the first half of the show I was watching the Broncos game... would have been a better idea to watch the circus because they got their butts kicked by the Chiefs, who they were supposed to just stomp. It was a real let down. Eric's Bears won though, so that was nice. Now the Broncos are at 3-1 and the Bears are 2-2.

Snakes, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

We had such a super fun weekend! I didn't have to cook dinner a single time, which is a win for everyone. On Friday night we went to Eric's brother's Pat's house for a birthday party, then on Saturday night we went to the other brother's, Andy's, house for another birthday party. September is a super busy birthday month for those guys. I also took the kids to the Reptile Expo on Saturday and it was so fun! The kids got to hold snakes and Tommy even braved a scorpion.

They had all kinds of creatures there, even Black Widows for sale but I have no idea why you'd want to buy one.

Sunday was football/cleaning day like usual and I'm happy to report that once again my Broncos eeked out another victory, this time against the Saints. I've had it with these nail biters though, they better give me a nice safe blow-out win next week against the Chiefs. Eric's Bears came away with another near win, sad for him :(

Then we went to Eric's mom's for dinner and after stuffing myself silly for the third night in a row, we went home and I attempted to digest all night long.

I have decided that we need a new computer and I have begun shopping for one. I just can't take the continuing dramatic saga of our perpetually broken machine. It seems like it's always not working properly and now we can't use it for anything except playing solitaire pretty much; which, to say the least, is difficult for Eric since he needs to write papers for his class. I don't know when we will buy a new one, probably not 'til after Christmas, but we will get one. Who knows, with this giant leap towards today's technology, maybe we'll even get the internet....

Geoff Tate Concert

Eric and I went to the Geoff Tate show last night and such a fun time! He is the lead singer to Queensryche and though I wasn't super familiar with his solo stuff, I had listened a few times and was able to recognize most of the songs. The show was fun because he talked about love a lot, how it's important to love passionately and completely and during this little speech Eric had me wrapped so tight in his arms I could barely move; it was awesome. The place was empty when we first got there and the band went on about 20 minutes after our arrival and though it filled in quite a bit, it was still not nearly as packed as that place (The Depot) usually is. We got to be front and center, there were not even barricades in front of the stage so only our good behavior kept us from running amok and climbing on the stage. There were some drunken girls who could have given him a real run for his money, but fortunately for him they were also too drunk to climb on the stage. As it stands now, our next concert will be GWAR - I can't wait!

Tonight we are going to Eric's brother's for a birthday party and at some point during the weekend (probably tomorrow because Sunday will be filled with football), I want to take the kids to the Reptile Expo at the fair grounds. Speaking of football, I want to report that though it was a close call, my Broncos won last Sunday.... there was a controversial call that helped with the win, but I feel they still earned it because the other team still had two chances to stop them. Eric's Bears came away with a near win, but weren't quite able to seal the deal. Hopefully everything continues on a winning path for me and Eric gets another win as well!

Failed Rescue Attempt

Yesterday, my boss Blaine asked me to "do my good deed for the day." Eyeing him questioningly, I was told that a bird had flown into the building (happens a lot here) and was laying on the ground. He knew I am a sucker for all things animal and that we have a lot of magpies who are plenty happy to take a free and easy meal. I, of course, felt pity for the poor little guy and scooped him up to bring him in for some rehabilitation. I put him in a box to give him time to "come to" because he was still breathing.



After a little time passed, he was on his feet again and moving his head around so I thought he'd be okay. I went to let him go around 3pm but he wasn't ready - wouldn't budge. I brought him back in until 5 and tried again... still no go. I thought Eric would kill me if I brought him home, so I nudged him out of the box and left him hiding in the bushes... I was worried about him but didn't know what else to do. Much to my displeasure, when we came in this morning there was definitive evidence that the magpies had gotten their meal after all. I feel so bad about the whole thing! Next time, the hapless creature is going home with me.

Field Trip to the State Fair

I was lucky enough to be able to go with Tommy's class on their field trip to the state fair this year. It was so much fun! It rained on us a bit and that cancelled the reptile show, so that was kind of a bummer. I was in group with another mom (Amber) I knew from my Total Energy days; I had her son Ethan in my class when I taught there, so that was neat to spend time with her and Ethan again. We also had Tommy's best friend Liam and friends Jake and Anton. It was quite a group of rowdy boys and we were so grateful it was a rainy Wednesday morning because they were all over the place! It would have been a total nightmare if it had been crowded.

They had tigers there, which was cool, not normally something you'd find at a fair. A few years ago they had baby tigers there that you could feed and have your picture taken with and that was so neat. Tommy made me take a couple of pictures of them for Syrena.

The boys petting a blurry goat...

The boys petting a cow...

Some baby piglets.

Since they cancelled the reptile show, they pulled a snake out to let everyone touch.

There was really neat section that was required for us to go to called "Little Hands on the Farm." The kids got to harvest corn, milk a cow, plant seeds and harvest their vegetables, move hay and get paid for it. They got to spend their fake money on one item from their shop, so basically they got a free snack - they had string cheese, juice, milk, cookies, chips, etc.

On a completely different note, I have been down lately about money... it seems like no matter how much I have, I owe twice that much. I have been doing some serious thinking about this and I know that it's my own fault. I need to get into a new mental state where I am allowing all the money I need to come into my experience. This is something I need to practice everyday, so I want to give it a shot, work on it for say 30 days and report back to see if anything has changed, so stay posted....

Last thing, I am happy to report that my Broncos won their Monday night game against the Raiders, seriously spanked them in fact. I know it's only the first week, but so far they have scored the most points out all the NFL teams! Go Broncos!

Just Another Manic Monday

Wow has it been busy! The Nine Inch Nails concert was super fun, I was aching to get into the mosh pit so it was hard to hold back, but still a good time. The kids' Back To School Night was really cool, I ran into my old director from Total Energy, the preschool I taught at for 5 years. I really miss her, she taught me so much not only about children but also about myself. It made me want to figure out a more meaningful way for me to pay my bills; I do enjoy my job at ITS, but I also feel unfulfilled here. I guess it would be hard for me to find a new job when I am not looking though, I am just putting two and two together here, bear with me, so perhaps I should start looking. It's blurry, I know, but the best I could do to get all of us in there -Tommy refused to be in the picture...

We had a great weekend with the kids, on Saturday we went to Eric's niece's birthday party then we went to the University of Utah football game. We have season tickets, but only two of them because there were only two games we'd have the kids for so we just bought extras for those two games. Our extra tickets were way over on the other side of the stadium, so we squished ourselves together and it really made for an interesting night. Take two kids who have recently entered a "I hate football" phase, add four people smashed into seating for two, multiply it by only having eaten cake and ice cream since 12 pm and divide it by the time currently being 8-9 at night and that equals? I'm sure you can all figure out that little math problem. We did bring some snacks and sneak in a couple of sodas, plus Eric forked out for some nachos and popcorn, but it was still a test of patience. At one point, I had to just take Tommy and force him to walk around with me until he calmed down. At the end of the game they had a cool fireworks display and the kids thoroughly enjoyed that part.

On Sunday, Syrena and I took the dogs food shopping at both PetSmart and Petco ... $160 later I have decided that for the time being, I have enough pets. A phrase I never thought I'd say, but it's making such a dent in my budget I can't possibly afford anything else. Nanuk's food went up more than $15.00 per bag (now up to $50.99) and he plows through that 40 lb bag in 3 weeks. I am hoping that at the next vet visit, he says Nanuk needs to lose weight 'cause I sure wouldn't mind feeding him less. The good news is that Peanut's bag should last her a few months.

I also spend much of Sunday reveling in football. So glad to have it back!!! Oh how I have missed it and the Bears sure gave us an awesome game to kick up the season. They beat the Colts soundly and it was really fun to watch. Eric is the biggest Bears fan you'll ever meet and so it's nice when they win. Look out for Mr. Grumpy pants when they lose though! A couple of years ago, when they lost to the Colts in the Super Bowl, he couldn't even speak for probably about 2 hours he was so upset. My Broncos play tonight, but some smarty pants scheduled the game for 10:15 at night. We don't have cable to watch it in the first place, and I can't go to someone's house until past midnight to watch it. Next weekend though, I will not be accepting phone calls during the game.

Just a Quickie

I have been naughty about blogging again, I've been so busy at work lately. This last weekend was super fun, I had Ashlee and my sister over (Eric's friend Eric - yes you read that right- was there too, but I didn't spend as much time with him because he got there early when I was still getting ready and left early...) and we had a blast. I didn't remember to take a single picture though... Sunday Eric and I spent laying around almost all day, but then I forced him to go shoe shopping with me, which he always enjoys. I got a couple of pairs of clearance shoes from DSW, it was exciting for me. Monday we took a long walk at the Jordan River Parkway with the dogs and in usual form, Nanuk was barely moving by the end of it. He's getting so lazy!!! Last night we had the kids and went to Stoneground for dinner to celebrate my sister's birthday -

Syrena was really good up until the end but mister Tommy was pretty much out of control the entire evening. He totally made up for it this morning though because when I was helping him wash his hair, he said, "Momma, you are not a fake mom.... I know because of your sweet voice." He has this funny way of phrasing things, completely different from how most people would do it, but he still gets his meaning across and to me it sounds more honest, more thought out. It was so sweet though, it totally melted my heart. Tonight I am off on a mad dash for "Back to School Night" then the Nine Inch Nails concert. I will try to take some pics of us before we head out, but there is no way I am trying to drag my camera into the concert, should be rowdy.