8 Tim...wow

Jenna remembers another Van Andel concert with her and I...I was lumping them into the same trip...oops

so 8.
8 Tim concerts.
I know you all care deeply about my obsession.
Thank you for loving me anyways.

repressed concert memory

ew.
I remembered the other concert of Tim I saw.
It was in Vegas. Sounds cool right? Well the concert itself was.
Guy who took me there, not so much. Ew. It was obviously a memory I like to forget.
Disgusting ew guy DID give me all the money I wanted to do whatever I wanted while he gambled, so I did spend alot of time on the Strip by myself...walking around, seeing sights, and drinking! I distinctly remember people watching alot, which I always find amusing.
Anywho, for those of you who don't know, I broke it off with above mentioned guy when we got back. Ew.

but Tim, you were great.
:)

Girl Scout Cookies

Girl Scout Cookies are the devil.
How are these cute little girls still allowed to sell them if they are in fact made by the devil?
Shouldn't someone put a stop to it?
My new favorite, thanks to the girls at the salon where I get my hair did, are Lemonades. Shortbread with the perfect amount of lemon icing. Shut up. I know.
Go buy some.

:)

TIM Concert X 6

My 1st Tim McGraw concert was 1999 at the Indiana State Fair. Mom and Ken took me and Jenna. We were nuts. I remember being SO excited to just GET there and Ken drove like a freakin grey head. Seriously, I would never say anything, but I was nervous thinking we'd miss it...he took like back roads to Indy. Hello, 31 south goes STRAIGHT to Indy and some year in math class, I may not have picked up much, but I distinctly remember learning the shortest distance between two points is a STRAIGHT line! For the love of Pete, we did make it, with like 2 hours to spare and just walking around the fair, eating fair food and anticipating the concert. I'm sure Mom and Ken wanted to strangle us and the concert hadn't even begun. Anywho, it was awesome. I think Chely Wright opened for him. Mom and Ken later told us they had such a good time just watching me and Jenna! So apparently this was the start of my concert LIVE Tim obsession...cuz I've seen him a lot since then.

I'm going to try to remember off the top of my head all the other ones....hmmm...
All concerts were with Jenna except one year she couldn't go, now I don't remember why, but Kaylynn went with me. I'd tried to warn her, that after she saw him live, she'd be a fan, she sorta believed me, but NOW she BELIEVES me! Kal, a teenager I worked with and Kaylynn's niece, Paige, went with us. It was the closest seats I'd had yet. Anywho, AJ gets to experience me seeing Tim tomorrow....As much as I love Aj and glad Kaylynn got to go, I do miss Jenna being with me cuz it's like 'our' thing. (I'm sure she feels the same way, sorry Jeenj)

Oh holy shit, the BIG ONE! Jenna and I went to NASHVILLE, as in Music City, as in Tennessee to see Tim and Faith on New Years Eve of 1999 or 2000...I'd have to look on my t-shirt I bought to remember the year, but I think it was 99. Anywho, what a trip! We went to Mary's first in Kentucky, ew. Long story short, I love her so much but her house and neighborhood was scary and I didn't sleep. We left the next day for Nashville, went downtown Nashville, went to Country Hall of Fame, took funny pictures, laughed about the Batman Bldg, went to The Saloon(you know the one)in the middle of the day cuz Jenna wasn't yet 21...got a hotel room for I think 2 or 3 nights if I remember right. The 1st hotel room was a scary drug dealer nasty joint with bars on the windows and the doors to the outside ghetto, so we got a different one like 10 miles away...We had our own version of a New Year's Eve the night before NYE in our hotel, we drank and watched Dallas. Ha. The concert was the next night on actual NYE, but we were heading home after the concert so we weren't drinking like all the other fools:) Anywho, that was a HUGE concert, like we went up escalators to our seats...and seeing Faith with Tim was pretty cool, even though she is fat, ugly and stupid. Ha.

One concert was at the Verizon place in Carmel I think, it was Jenna and Brian and me. Big&Rich opened and I had a lot of tall plastic guitar beers! Found out how fun Big&Rich were too...Save a Horse Ride, a Cowboy. Woot Woot!

One with Kaylynn at Van Andel in Grand Rapids MI, closest seats I've ever bought. Yummo view of the nice tight jeans Tim was wearing...:)

Soul2Soul 2(2nd tour of Tim and Faith together)at Van Andel in Grand Rapids Michigan with Jenna...Van Andel is my favorite venue so far, it's smallish er than the others I've been to. It's also in Grand Rapids, which is a cute little town if you go before the concert to walk around and shop...but make sure you go on a day that the town doesn't close up and only get to go to a book store...anywho, The Bob, a 4 level restaurant bar is across the street from Van Andel and it's pretty happenin' place(I sound old). Jenna and I drank alot before the concert, ok well I drank WAY more than Jenna...anywho...this one ENDED up good but started out terrible. Guy behind us told us to sit down and that's all it took to piss me off, and when I get pissed, I cry. Having beers in my system doesn't help this situation either. I went to the bathroom very upset and crying, called Aj like this guy wants to ruin our concert...Jenna, in the mean time, was talking to the usher. The usher understood, we wanted to actually enjoy the concert and STAND UP. Who sits down at a concert? So the usher moved us CLOSER to the stage...long story short, I got to touch TIM. Let's not move too quickly over this point here, I got to touch TIM. I had to go down a few more rows from where the usher moved us, which were awesome seats, but I got to be up close and personal with TIM. Did you hear me? Thank you Jenna for being a fixer. Thanks for telling the usher I was having a complete melt down. Thanks for telling on the mean stupid sitting down guy:) Oh, the actual concert, was great. Tim and Faith sitting and singing close together...schmoopie...puke!

Tomorrow with the hubby. Tim and hubby in the same room. Tim will be jealous. This is also Aj and I's 1st real concert together. Only so called concert was at Club Fever in South Bend...that's not a concert. That's just a has-been performing while you get all drunk(life Before Maggie).

I've been to 6 Tim concerts. Seems like there were more. Maybe my emotional state makes it feel like more! :)

11 "Don't-Tell-the-Wife" Secrets All Men Keep

11 "Don't-Tell-the-Wife" Secrets All Men Keep
( just a little something I read today and I thought I'd share on my blog)
WebMD Feature from "Redbook" Magazine By Ty Wenger

we've scoured the country for guys willing to share the private truths they wouldn't normally confess. Some are a bit crass. Some you've always suspected. Some are surprisingly sweet. (Guys don't like to reveal the mushy stuff, either.) But read on, and you may discover that the truth about men isn't all that ugly.

Secret #1: Yes, we fall in lust 10 times a day -- but it doesn't mean we want to leave you
If the oldest question in history is "What's for dinner?" the second oldest is "Were you looking at her?" The answer: Yes -- yes, we were. If you're sure your man doesn't look, it only means he possesses acute peripheral vision.
"When a woman walks by, even if I'm with my girlfriend, my vision picks it up," says Doug LaFlamme, 28, of Laguna Hills, California. "I fight the urge to look, but I just have to. I'm really in trouble if the woman walking by has a low-cut top on."
Granted, we men are well aware that our sizing up the produce doesn't sit well with you, given that we've already gone through the checkout line together. But our passing glances pose no threat.
"It's not that I want to make a move on her," says LaFlamme. "Looking at other women is like a radar that just won't turn off."

Secret #2: We actually do play golf to get away from you
More than 21 million American men play at least one round of golf a year; of those, an astounding 75 percent regularly shoot worse than 90 strokes a round. In other words, they stink. The point is this: "Going golfing" is not really about golf. It's about you, the house, the kids -- and the absence thereof.
"I certainly don't play because I find it relaxing and enjoyable," admits Roland Buckingham, 32, of Lewes, Delaware, whose usual golf score of 105 is a far-from-soothing figure. "As a matter of fact, sometimes by the fourth hole I wish I were back at the house with the kids screaming. But any time I leave the house and don't invite my wife or kids -- whether it's for golf or bowling or picking up roadkill -- I'm just getting away."

Secret #3: We're unnerved by the notion of commitment, even after we've made one to you
This is a dicey one, so first things first: We love you to death. We think you're fantastic. Most of the time we're absolutely thrilled that we've made a lifelong vow of fidelity to you in front of our families, our friends and an expensive videographer.
But most of us didn't spend our formative years thinking, "Gosh, I just can't wait to settle down with a nice girl so we can grow old together." Instead we were obsessed with how many women who resembled Britney Spears we could have sex with before we turned 30. Generally it takes us a few years (or decades) to fully perish that thought.

Secret #4: Earning money makes us feel important
In more than 7.4 million U.S. marriages, the wife earns more than the husband -- almost double the number in 1981. This of course is a terrific development for women in the workplace and warmly embraced by all American men, right? Right?
Yeah, well, that's what we tell you. But we're shallow, competitive egomaniacs. You don't think it gets under our skin if our woman's bringing home more bacon than we are -- and frying it up in a pan?
"My wife and I are both reporters at the same newspaper," says Jeffrey Newton, 33, of Fayetteville, South Carolina. "Five years into our marriage I still check her pay stub to see how much more an hour I make than she does. And because she works harder, she keeps closing the gap."

Secret #5: Though we often protest, we actually enjoy fixing things around the house
I risk being shunned at the local bar if this magazine finds its way there, because few charades are as beloved by guys as this one. To hear us talk, the Bataan Death March beats grouting that bathroom shower. And, as 30-year-old Ed Powers of Chicago admits, it's a shameless lie. "In truth, it's rewarding to tinker with and fix something that, without us, would remain broken forever," he says. Plus we get to use tools.
"The reason we don't share this information," Powers adds, "is that most women don't differentiate between taking out the trash and fixing that broken hinge; to them, both are tasks we need to get done over the weekend, preferably during the Bears game. But we want the use-your-hands, think-about-the-steps-in-the-process, home-repair opportunity, not the repetitive, no-possibility-of-a-compliment, mind-dulling, purely physical task." There. Secret's out. (I DONT THINK ANYTHING SHOULD BE DONE DURING A BEARS GAME THOUGH HELLO)
Secret #6: We like it when you mother us, but we're terrified that you'll become your mother
With apologies to Sigmund Freud, Gloria Steinem -- and my mother-in-law.

Secret #7: Every year we love you more
Sure, we look like adults. We own a few suits. We can probably order wine without giggling. But although we resemble our father when he was our age, we still feel like that 4-year-old clutching his pant leg.
With that much room left on our emotional-growth charts, we sense we've only begun to admire you in the ways we will when we're 40, 50 and -- God forbid -- 60. We can't explain this to you, because it would probably come out sounding like we don't love you now.
"It took at least a year before I really started to appreciate my wife for something other than just great sex; and I didn't discover her mind fully until the third year we were married," says Newton. "But the older and wiser I get, the more I love my wife." Adds J.P. Neal, 32, of Potomac, Maryland: "The for-richer-or-poorer, for-better-or-worse aspects of marriage don't hit you right away. It's only during those rare times when we take stock of our life that it starts to sink in."

Secret #8: We don't really understand what you're talking about
You know how, during the day, you sometimes think about certain deep, complex "issues" in your relationship? Then when you get home, you want to "discuss" these issues? And during these "discussions," your man sits there nodding and saying things like "Sure, I understand," "That makes perfect sense" and "I'll do better next time"?
Well, we don't understand. It doesn't make any sense to us at all. And although we'd like to do better next time, we could only do so if, in fact, we had an idea of what you're talking about.
We do care. Just be aware that the part of our brain that processes this stuff is where we store sports trivia.

Secret #9: We are terrified when you drive
Want to know how to reduce your big, tough guy to a quivering mass of fear? Ask him for the car keys.
"I am scared to death when she drives," says LaFlamme.
"Every time I ride with her, I fully accept that I may die at any moment," says Buckingham.
"My wife has about one 'car panic' story a week -- and it's never her fault. All these horrible things just keep happening -- it must be her bad luck," says Andy Beshuk, 31, of Jefferson City, Missouri.
Even if your man is too diplomatic to tell you, he is terrified that you will turn him into a crash-test dummy.

Secret #10: We'll always wish we were 25 again
Granted, when I was 25 I was working 16-hour days and eating shrimp-flavored Ramen noodles six times a week. But as much as we love being with you now, we will always look back fondly on the malnourished freedom of our misguided youth. "Springsteen concerts, the '91 Mets, the Clinton presidency -- most guys reminisce about the days when life was good, easy and free of responsibility," says Rob Aronson, 41, of Livingston, New Jersey, who's been married for 11 years. "At 25 you can get away with things you just can't get away with at 40."
While it doesn't mean we're leaving you to join a rock band, it does explain why we occasionally come home from Pep Boys with a leather steering-wheel cover and a Born to Run CD.

Secret #11: Give us an inch and we'll give you a lifetime
I was on a trip to Mexico, standing on a beach, waxing my surfboard and admiring the glistening 10-foot waves, when I decided to marry the woman who is now my wife. Sure, this was three years before I got around to popping the question. But that was when I knew.
Why? Because she'd let me go on vacation alone. Hell, she made me go. This is the most important thing a man never told you: If you let us be dumb guys, if you embrace our stupid poker night, if you encourage us to go surfing -- by ourselves -- our silly little hearts, with their manly warts and all, will embrace you forever for it.
And that's the truth.

I'm Mama now

Maggie is no longer calling me MomMom.
Bummer.I'm Mama now.
Aj was Dadda and is now being called Daddy or Maggie's version of it that sounds like DaEEE.

We both miss what she first called us.
She's just getting more advanced with her words, so we knew it would change but I reallllllllly liked MomMom :(

'Mama' still comes from her so it still melts my heart every time I hear it.

Maggie's 1st Slumber Party

Emily and Will spent the night last night. Not celebrating anything, but thought it would be a nice break for Jenna and Brian after the week they had. I'm such a nice Aunt Kenj/SIL/Sister! HA
Maggie and Will...if you want to be hard core, you got to PLAY hard core. Oh yes, they were pooped by bedtime. Maggie even slept without a peep until 7:15 this morning, took a bottle, then slept til 10! What? Hallelujah:)
Will slept in the recliner. Earlier in the night, he says "Aunt Kenj, this will make a good bed for me". But at 7:15, he was on the floor by the kitchen??? weird. Ha.
We all ate Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff. The kids ate it right up. Phew.
I am good. Ha. Oh wait, Maggie wanted nothing to do with any of it, big shocker. She was way too distracted for that shit. Ha. We watched Follow that Bird, ran around with a grocery cart, ran into each other and laughed really hard, jumped on the mattress on the floor that we took out of Maggie's crib while UnKie AJ supervised...oh and the funniest thing was watching Will and Maggie dance to UnKie
AJ's 'music' that he himself makes. Now that was a good time. Even Em was laughing at them, I'm pretty sure I saw her teeny tiny little dance move as she walked through the living room to get a Pepsi from the kitchen, oh yeah, go Em go Em go Em.
It was really nice to just have them all here, wow the house was alive. It felt good though. Em talked quite a bit over dinner, which was nice. Talked about school, some of her teachers and funny stories and who she was texting and about learning some french, german and spanish. Em pretty much just wanted Maggie to snuggle, we'll have to have just Em over so Maggie and Will are not just playing together the whole time. Finally this morning though, Maggie 'let' Em hold her and read some of a book to her. AWWWWW Anywho, I liked the house full of kids. Uh Oh...should I read into this more? :)

Troop Beverly Hills

I busted out Troop Beverly Hills today and Maggie liked it.
Just enough songs and dancing and girls hopping around being crazy for her to stay interested. I loved this movie as a young girl. Who says the last sentence I just typed? Old people. I'm old. Speaking of which, my grey is coming thru and I need a dye job. Again, old people say that. I'm old.
Troop Beverly Hills is a totally realistic movie:) Beverly Hills what a thrill, Beverly Hills what a thrill, Beverly Hills what a thrill...Maggie liked marching around to this part and re-playing over and over when they sing Happy Birthday to Chica:)

What a dumb blog.

processed food

How many times do i have to hear these words(PROCESSED FOODS) and
cringe at what i put in my body, my husbands body and Maggie's body(more importantly)...and do nothing about it.
Venting here...is everything processed? What isn't processed besides fruits and vegetables...is making stuff HOMEMADE cheaper...is pasta processed, what would i do without pasta...ok I KNOW doritoes are processed...but...is there an EASY way to change what I do and don't do...if it's not easy-ish, I probably won't do it...
am I a loser or what...???
Is there a website?? A book?? or is this just common knowledge to most people?
I grew up on processed food...frozen pizza, mountain dew, delivery pizza, chips, chips a hoy, fast food...I am doing what my mom did...it's easier...crap.
I buy 100% whole wheat bread, is bread processed? I buy cheese, every variety pretty much...jelly...peanut butter...chicken breasts...cream of mushroom soup...oh stop the madness...I haven't a clue. All joking a side, I'm not sure I know what is good and what is bad. Does everything have to actually say Organic to not be processed? Does processed and organic have nothing to do with each other really? Are the people who don't eat processed food all skinny and healthy?

I suck. Bye Bye Now.

FlipFlop February

I need winter boots and officially stores have Flip Flops and Rain Boots and
no winter boots. It's Indiana in the middle of winter and I need boots, preferably on sale, but I'd take any boots right now...
If I were going to Cancun on a vacation I'd be set big time. I'd have a bikini and flip flops and shorts and tank tops...I'm not saying I'd actually wear any of the above except the flippies but....

anywho
just sayin

BackPack BackPack

My nephew went to Pre-School today, backpack and all.

awwwwwww

I don't Karaoke

I don't.
I won't.
Wouldn't even if I were completely drunk.
I sing to myself and Maggie.
I sing in my car.
I sing alone usually.
I do not sing karaoke.

but
to those of you who do, right on peeps.
you have bigger balls than I.
Good job:)

I shall buy BOOTS

So the other night, it had snowed about 2 feet...a friend had shoveled us out cuz he had a half day and aj and i weren't feeling too well that day. I really wanted to go to the chiropractor because I had missed a day or two...I had to back aj's truck out of the driveway, pull my car out and then pull his truck back in...simple right? Not if you fall on your ass. My car was parked at the curb while I walked back over to get into Aj's truck in front of the neighbors. I hit ice I guess. One second I was walking and the next I was flat on my back. I hit the back of my head pretty hard, but I had my hood pulled over my head (for once) so there was a millimeter of cushion on my melon. Ouch. I was like whoa. My feet were up on the embankment where the plow had been by and I was splat in front of Aj's truck, his lights were on, so anyone who happened to have been looking(hopefully no one) would have seen quite a fall. I would have laughed had it not hurt so bad. I got up...moved his truck in...Aj's at the door saying 'are you ok' at the exact time I'm saying 'did you see me fall'...ouchie mama. I made it to the chiropractor about 5 mins late, they stayed for me though cuz I told them I fell. Anywho, that night I was fine, slight head ache but no biggie. Well now it's been 3 days and I'm sooooo sore. Every muscle must have tensed up when I fell. My right hip and back(of course my back why not...anywho) feel bruised but I don't see a bruise. My shoulders and neck are achy. The backs of my arms feel like I did some massive tricep dips WHICH I DID NOT.
My point is, number one, I'm so glad I wasn't carrying Maggie. Phew.
Number 2, if a kid falls, he gets back up and goes about his business. I apparently am not a kid anymore. I feel like I was hit by a truck, which I haven't ever been hit by a truck, and I'm sure it's a slight exaggeration, but I am SORE.

Only other time I remember falling on ice was when I was pregnant with Maggie...oh I was so scared I'd have hurt her by falling, I just starting bawling. I was fine, I didn't hurt and obviously she was fine...obviously.

Moral of the story really is... I need snow boots! So with my valentine money I got from my Dad, I shall buy boots.

Maggie's wheews a spinnin

Maggie is just all around now such a big girl.
She is eating way better in my opinion, which is the only opinion that matters thank you. I just have to become better at what we eat...anyways another story there.
She is trying to help 'clean up' her toys with me. She'll go get what I ask for and put it where I point, not ALL the time but it's a process.
She is going to bed with a baby now too...not sure how that started. Just one day for nap she went and got 'beebee' out of her baskets of stuffed animals and now it's with her in her crib. Tonight, I forgot I took it out and she was looking for it and said 'beebee' and started to panic...no no no it's alright she's right here...road block to meltdown, thanks Mama. She lays 'beebee' down on her face like how Maggie sleeps:) LOL, now that is stinkin cute, i don't care who you are.
Maggie is saying just about everything I swear, she'll mimick just about anything I do and recognizes things too that I've never actually so called taught her...like on her laptop she got as a xmas present, she pointed to the apple and said apple. huh.
In her 1st words book yesterday, she was saying what the pictures were, some she needed help with but she did pretty good herself. She'd point at the picture and say
'sock' 'shoe' 'pain'(plane) 'choochoo'(train...oops that's my fault cuz that's what I'd call it when i'd read to her)'ball' 'poddy'(potty chair) 'gull'(girl) 'coat' 'wheew'(wheels)....
It was soooo fun to watch her wheews spin. I love that part:)

taxes

Who decided taxes were a good idea?
klfajofaisdhfj ao;dnfjaosdfihasdoa;sdfj

but thank GOD for REFUNDS.

weekend plans for adults

i just blogged a LONG blog for me about my weekend adult plans and there was an Error.

WhATEVER

blah blah blah

long story short, I have adult plans two night in a row and I already miss my baby girl.

if Will's turning 5 already...

Time is flying by. Wow, just yesterday he was born it seems. I met Aj when Will was 6 months old...wow now he's turning 5, this can't be right. I remember the talks Jenna and I had about moving and going to school like it would be 5 years away and it's already here. Wow. I keep saying wow because I know Maggie turning 5 will be right around the next corner if I blink long enough. ugh.
I'm feeling for Jenna right now bigga time. Her baby will be starting school. Bittersweet.
He will LOVE school I'm sure, so I think that'll make it easier for her, but after spending all your time with the love of your life all wrapped up in smokin' pajamas, it'll be a shock to the system. A whole new chapter will be starting, possibly not even a new chapter, might be like a whole different book. T-ball this summer, school starting, field trips, oh ugh girlfriends, boy sleep overs, graduations, driver's permits, driver's license, dating, sports....getting caught sneaking out to come to Aunt Kenj's house cuz he's in trouble...ha ha ha...but anywho, if this is all happening at the speed of light, I'm going to stunt Maggie's growth somehow. I'm gonna google it, ha. What would I search for? Ways to keep your kid under 5 years old? aaaaagghhhhh