Cutting the grass

Jamie and I have a deal that he will take care of all the snow in the winter if I cut the grass in the summer. I actually like cutting the grass. It gets me outside for about an hour, when it's sunny I get a tan and it is a good source of exercise. The last time I cut the grass I got 3,000 steps which really helped out the walk the walk competition.

However, cutting the grass does have it's bad points too. A couple summers ago Jamie was cutting the grass and it started hailing! Nothing too big and it only lasted about a minute. Then a couple weeks ago while I was cutting the grass a bug flew up my nose! I kept on mowing, but it was "bugging" me so I stopped the mower and went inside to blow my nose. The bug came out, it was tiny, but it was still moving, which must be why it was bothering me so much!

But it is all worth it when a neighbor walks by and tells me that we have the nicest lawn in the neighborhood.

Angels & Demons and Gran Torino

Jamie and I saw 2 movies the past few days. We saw Angels and Demons at the theater on Saturday night. I read the book and also read and saw The DaVinci Code. The movie was okay for me. I think the problem I have with the movies is that I already know the ending and it follows the book so closely it almost seems boring to me. If you haven't seen it but would like to I recommend waiting until it becomes a rental.

Last night we rented Gran Torino. I must say that this was a big disappointment for me. I am not a big fan of Clint Eastwood, but most people said that it was a great movie. It was a decent story, but the acting seemed forced and unnatural. I am glad though that I waited for the rental on this one.

A couple other movies that we hope to see this summer are Transformers and Public Enemies.

Walk the Walk

Can you walk the walk? That's what was asked of me and my coworkers. We have been challenged by the Madison site to see who can walk the walk or in other words have the most steps taken in 8 weeks using a pedometer. The challenge started on Sunday and goes until Saturday, July 25th. It has been interesting to see how many steps I take in a day. On a normal day I take around 5,500 steps. My highest day so far was over 11,000 and I am happy to say I am close to that today as well. We are in groups of 3 and we are competing among ourselves in Waukesha and those in Madison. My personal goal is to increase my weekly total every week. Hopefully this will also help me shed those pesky pregnancy pounds that have lingered way too long. I will post my weekly total on the side so you can see how well I am doing and to keep me motivated. Well, it's time to go and keep walking!

The Tonight Show

This past Friday was the last night that Jay Leno hosted the Tonight Show. Most people either watched Jay Leno or David Letterman. I watched the Tonight Show when Johnny Carson was the host and when Jay Leno took over 17 years ago I continued with him. Conan O'Brien will be taking over as host tomorrow and I haven't decided if I will watch. I have seen him a couple times on the late night show, but I don't really care for his humor, but I should give him a shot. I haven't actually stayed up long enough to watch the Tonight Show in quite a long time so it didn't really matter to me that the host was changing. Maybe I should try giving David Letterman a chance on that rare occasion I am still awake at that hour.

Congratulations Nic and Happy Baptism Jenna

This past Sunday my brother Nic finally graduated from college with his Bachelor's degree. I didn't make it to the commencement, but I did manage to call him while he was walking up to get his diploma. Even though it took you a long time to finish, I am very proud of you for keeping with it. Congratulations!

The reason I missed the commencement was because I was at Jenna's baptism. I was asked to be her Godmother and I was thrilled. Jenna, I hope to be a positive influence in your life and I will tell you many stories about your Mom and I when we were little. God Bless!

2009 USBC Women's Championships, Reno, NV

This past Wednesday I traveled to Reno, NV for the 2009 Women's Bowling Championship Tournament. This was my first time to a National tournament and it was very exciting. I went with a group of ladies that I bowl with on Monday nights. We stayed at the Eldorado Hotel and Casino. Our room had a view of the pool and of the Sands Hotel and Casino a couple blocks away, which was kind of a dump in my opinion.



This tournament runs from March 28th to July 4th and there are bowlers every day. Overall there will be between 40,000 - 45,000 women bowling in this tournament. The tournament was held at the National Bowling Center.

We had to bowl 3 games for team event. I was put on a team from WI and these ladies were known as Duckies. They were very strange and, well, I am not sure how to explain them. Here are some of them in their duckie hats.

Before the team event we were all in the squad room waiting to march onto the lanes. As you can see there are quite a few women in the room.

We had a team photo taken. Here I am with three duckies and Elaine, my doubles partner (she's in the middle).

The stadium had 80 lanes and it was quite impressive!


I was really nervous when we got out onto the lanes and I think it was partly because I wanted to impress my team. I didn't know anyone on it and I really wanted Elaine to think I was a good bowler. Unfortunately, I only had one good score that day. The second day we had to bowl 3 games for doubles and then switch lanes and bowl 3 games for singles. I did even worse on this day. It isn't easy to bowl 9 games in two days. However, I did put money in some side pots for handicap and brackets and I won $29 between the two days. I also aquired quite a few pins.

Even though I didn't do very well in the tournament I did win $200 playing Blackjack at the casino! It was a really good trip and I am excited for next year when the tournament will be held in El Paso, TX. But watch out for me and Elaine, we are soon to be the next bowlers of the year!

My First Mother's Day

Today was my first Mother's Day. It started out with sleeping in until 7:00AM (an extra hour!). After I showered and dressed I went downstairs to get Jake dressed and there was a Mother's Day card from him. He definately inherited his handwriting from Jamie. I took Jake to church for the first time and he did very well, but still a little handful. Then it was off to my Mother-in-law's where Jamie and his brothers made brunch, yummy! At 1:00PM I went to my Mom's and met my Sister-in-law there and the three of us went to the spa. Mom had a stone massage and Sara and I had pedicures. It was worth every penny :) After the spa we went back to Mom's and Jamie and Jake met us up there for a pizza dinner. We arrived home about 7:00PM and fed Jake then put him to bed around 8:15PM and I am already in my pj's too. It was a wonderful day and I hope my Mom and Mother-in-law enjoyed themselves as well. Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mother's out there.