Ah, Nature

Thursday night Olivia was out in the garage emptying the canister from the vacuum when all of a sudden she runs in the house saying Mommy, Mommy, Mommy. I thought she got stung by a bee or something, but it turned out she saw a possum (or opossum if you prefer). Yes, a POSSUM! Olivia said when he saw her, he scurried under my vehicle. I went out to the garage to investigate. I noticed he had used our garage floor as his litter box, but opened the garage door before cleaning it up. I searched under the car and behind the few things that are stored next to the car, but did not see him. I figured he had ran out of the garage when I opened the door. I closed the garage door and we went to bed a bit after this adventure.

First thing Friday morning I go out to check the garage under the light of day. That bugger wasn't gone - how do I know you wonder? Well, he had used my garage floor as a litter box again. I opened the door, ran the car, moved things around in the garage. Cleaned up his second mess which as in nearly the same spot as the first I had cleaned up. I know he is nocturnal, but left the door open most of the day so if he wanted to escape captivity he could. All day long no messes, no sight of him. I figured he must have been gone, but decided to check again in the middle of the night when one of the dogs needed to go out. No sign of him so I was pretty confident that he was gone this time.

First thing Saturday morning, I checked the garage! Sure enough, he had used the floor as a litter box again. I decided that meant I needed to take everything out of the garage to get rid of him. So I pulled my vehicle out of the garage and got to work. The first thing I reached for was a bag of mulch (there were four) we didn't use when we added the bed by the mailbox and laid new mulch in another area of the yard. As I am moving that first bag, what did I see? Yep, you guessed it -- that little stinker curled up in a ball playing possum on top of two of our bags of mulch...

It took some time and a little gentle guidance with a metal pole (yes, I am a chicken), but I finally got that little bugger out!! :)

It gives me the willies to look at the pictures I took Saturday morning...LOL!!

Happy Birthday

my dear brother, Scott!!

Scott's birthday concludes the wishes for now! :)

Happy Birthday...

JEANNIE!!

Happy Birthday...

LINDA!

Estimates Gathered

All our roofing estimates are all in, and we are close to a decision. The whole process is enough to make my head spin. I don't think I want to hear 30 year, 40 year, lifetime, redeck, fascia, roof-to-wall, ice & water dam, etc for a VERY long time.

Isn't it funny how when you set out on the "estimate journey", you think you will go with the least expensive quote, but you rarely do? We have decided to go with the quote that is pretty much smack dab in the middle. He's $3500 higher than the lowest, and $3689 lower than the highest. We were most comfortable with the person they sent out, they use the same shingle as the highest quote which is a little better quality brand than the one used by the lowest quote, but most importantly of the work we have checked out this company's looks the best.

So sometime in August you should be seeing pictures of our house with a whole new look! The color we will most likely use is here! I think it will look great with the colors of our siding, trim, shutters, & doors.

I know it will be a big improvement from whatever that color is! I like to call it washed out -- ACK!

Our Happy Trail

This morning Erin & I met at the trail we used for triathlon & 5K training last year. We haven't been to that trail since the Friday before the 5K which was in November. I hate to admit it, but I haven't run much since then either. In fact, I think today was the first outside run since the 5K. I've got to get into shape to at least run a 5K. We are getting ready to Storm the Bastille on July 11.

Help Me

My hair needs help big time! My bangs are too long, I need the length trimmed, and my roots are beginning to show. I am trying to wait until my usual stylist, Diane, returns from maternity leave to have my hair done, but I need it done SOON! I am not sure of the exact date she will be back, but she better hurry!! :) The stylist I went to last time wasn't bad, but she wasn't Diane either. Diane just knows my hair!

Hurry back woman or I will be spending the foreseeable future in ponytails with headbands! LOL!!

Second Blogiversary

Two years ago today I started Just Bloggin' Along. I was halfway expecting to run out of things to write about. There have been days like that, but the majority of the time I find something. I think each and everyone of you who stops by to read what's happening in my little part of the world!

Oh Baby...LOL!

One of People's 2008 Hottest Bachelors

That Roof Over Our Heads

Well, the time has come to gather quotes for a new roof on our house. Even if you are prepared for the cost (have it in savings), the numbers can be shocking! I am really excited to get this project behind us because I know it will make a HUGE difference in the look of our house!

Slowly, but surely we are getting those pesky home improvement projects off our list.

Here We Go Again

Olivia and I had to head to the basement again this afternoon because of a tornado warning. In my 38 years, I don't think we have ever had to head to the basement more than once in a season let alone three times in a less than a week. That threat has passed without incident here, but it is going to be a rough evening with a long line of severe weather moving this way and the unstable atmosphere. This is certainly the last thing we need with the swollen lakes and rivers, weakened dams, saturated ground, and nearly full sewer systems.

I am sure you are sick of reading about our weather, but there is really nothing else happening or being talked about here. Local stations have had weather coverage constantly since about 2PM.

Another One Down

Olivia is done with her freshman year! I can't believe I am the parent of a sophomore! YIKES!

There was a schedule change for the end of the year due to the flooding in the area. The exams that were to be taken on Monday were canceled. Tuesday's & Wednesday's exams were held as scheduled. Today was to be the last day of school, but with high water still near some schools the last day was changed to yesterday.

Students were able to Monday's canceled exams to try to improve their grades, but a poor grade on the exam would not hurt them. One of Olivia's canceled exams was for a class in which she had been struggling and the other she was close to an A so she took them both. She did well on those exams and improved those grades. For one class she was the only one to take the exam and one of three in the other. Yes, it took some nagging from mom & dad to get her to take those exams, but she is glad she did.

To celebrate Olivia & I went out to lunch. Then we went off to McDonald's & Cousins where she put in job applications. I think she has a pretty good shot at the McDonald's job because of her "connections". As most of you know Bob & I both worked there, and I still do two weeks per year to do those bunny parties.

Still Rising

The waters are still rising around the state.

It seems our city's water levels are going down, but not fast enough. The school parking lot was still under water this morning.

The flood waters broke through an earthen dam draining Lake Delton into the Wisconsin River (video). Can you even imagine watching your house just get swept away like that?

The house still standing in the video is owned by Bob's junior high math teacher. It eventually cracked & fell as well. Only when this one fell the water was gone so it didn't get carried away.

This is an EXTREMELY popular tourist area in our state. In fact, the summer months here feed the economy of that area of the state. A Wisconsin Army National Guard Engineering Team is working on figuring out how to get water into Lake Delton.

No School

This is the last week of school for Olivia. Today, tomorrow, and Wednesday were to be exam days and the last day of school is Thursday. School today had to be canceled due to flood waters from our weekend storms.

Entrance to school parking lot.

The parking lot!

The parking lot of the school was completely under water and not just a little water. It was up to the tops of the very few vehicles that were in the lot. There is some damage inside the school as well.

There are more photos of the flooding near us posted in my flickr account.

Twenty Years Ago Today

I graduated from high school! Another case of where has the time gone?

What a Weekend

We had a pretty exciting weekend here in Southeastern Wisconsin.

I spent about 40 minutes down in the basement Friday afternoon due to the possibility of a tornado moving into our area. Of course, right as the warning sirens sounded Olivia called to be picked up from school. She stayed after school for some much needed algebra help, the doors lock behind students when they leave after the end of the day so she wasn't able to get back in. Fortunately, she was with a friend who lived right across the street. She & her friend ran to the friend's house and headed straight to her basement. It worked out perfectly, I think. We were all safe in a basement and had Olivia not been with her friend she would have been home alone and might have been a little freaked out. After the all clear sounded I picked her up. We were home about 10 minutes when more severe thunderstorms moved in to the area. Thankfully, those did not bring the tornado warnings.

Tornado warning sirens sent us to the basement again yesterday afternoon for about an hour and a half. This time we were all home.

Thankfully, there were no tornadoes in our immediate area, but the rates at which the rain fell were down right incredible. We had more storms with heavy rain this morning and more are moving in as I type. I think most of the state is under some sort of flash flood and/or flood watch or warning tonight.

We don't live in a low lying area or near any of the rivers or creeks that are flooding in our area so the high water we have around here is minimal. We did get a bit of water in the basement. It was just coming down so fast and the ground is so saturated that it had now where to go other than into the window well and then into our basement. Most of it was soaked up by a rug I had on the floor nearby and nothing was ruined. So while it was a scary, wet weekend so far things are OK here.

Here are a couple pictures taken Friday afternoon. Believe it or not, these were taken within seconds of one another. I was standing in the middle of our deck, and to the east was the ominous, stormy sky while to the west was the beautiful blue sky with the sun shining brightly. VERY strange afternoon indeed!

I have added the rest of the pictures I took of the storms moving in Friday afternoon to flickr. You can see them here.

I hope to be able to get out tomorrow to try to capture some pictures of the high water. However, I don't know if that will be possible. It sounds like we are supposed to have more of the same for the next couple days.

Hilarious

Have you seen this?

Oh my goodness, HILARIOUS!! "It's worth the risk," ROFLMBO!!

Not Hypo

Oops...saved as a draft instead of publishing this baby!

Well, all my blood work came back fine. My cholesterol wasn't just fine -- it was excellent! :) I credit that to eating whole grains & good fats! Thanks to learning South Beach Diet way of life! :)

I do not have hypothyroidism at the moment, but the doctor believes my body could be headed in that direction since my number was on lower side of the normal range. She will test again in a year. If I don't start feeling better and my metabolism doesn't speed up, she will refer me to an endocrinologist.

For now, she had a few suggestions for boosting my metabolism based on the food/work out journal I keep. She thought my caloric intake was a little low for the amount of activity so she suggested I raised my caloric intake about 100-150 calories. She also suggested adding one more strength training workout to my week. I am going to make those changes and see how it goes!

Anyone know of other ways to boost a slow metabolism?

A Big Dip AGAIN

Yesterday's high 83! Today's high 53! Grrr! I want warm weather to stick around. It is June after all!

The Mole

One of my favorite shows is returning to television tonight. I will miss Anderson Cooper, but I am really excited about the return of The Mole!

One of the contestants is from the area so I will be rootin' for him to win (or be The Mole...LOL)! I have a couple in mind who I think it could be, but am not ready to say it out loud yet. :)