YAY FOR ME!

I got an extra $100 this week! :-)

First, on Tuesday night on my way to work in Springfield I was listening to 96.7 and the dj asked a question, "45% of newly married women get upset when they find out their husband is doing what?" I got it right! I'm not going to tell you what it was though, I want you to guess in my comments! Anyways, I won a $40 gift card to Panera Bread and received it today!

Second, on Wednesday at our monthly General Staff meeting they announced it was National DSP week so they were giving us all $10 in Chamber Dollars. WOO HOO!

Third, today I received my $50 Lane Bryant gift card that I redeemed on MyPoints a couple of weeks ago.

So there you have it! A FREE $100!

HAPPY MAIL!

A few days back I got a happy, aqua colored padded envelope with flowers on it. It was from my mom and sister! They were out scouting the garage sales and found a few things that made them think of me. :-) A business card holder, a cat pin and a mini violin for our living room!

Omelette in a Bag?

This morning at work the guy I was working with was telling me how to make an omelette in a bag. I didn't think it was a real thing, so I had to look it up. SURE ENOUGH! It's a real deal! I don't know if I want to try it or not, I'm kind of grossed out. But I bet it's healthier?

I'm Gonna Miss Simon

Simon passed away around 12:40 this morning. I know that because I was giving him food and Don said, "Watch Simon". I thought he meant so Simon didn't go out the open hatch. No, he was hiccup breathing. He wasn't actually hiccuping, but it looked like it. I came into the office and updated my Facebook status that he was having a hard time breathing and I was fearing that he wouldn't be with us much longer. I went out and he was laying on his side. Yes, my little friend was gone. I needed to grasp this, so I came back into the office and wrote that he passed. My Facebook status said that my last post had been 12 minutes earlier. Rats live about 2 years, and Simon and his brother were guessed to have been born early September 2007. We got them October 30, 2007. Oh, my little buddy....I cried so hard last night, and had sad, sad dreams.

Long Time No See!

Man, so much has been going on, and I've been wanting to blog so badly, but haven't had the time or patience to do so.

Let's see....On June 7th, we found out that poor Nigel died. He was just so sick and unhappy, it was better for him. I am glad I didn't put him down and had those extra weeks for him. He loved to snuggle, even more so in the end. What a nice boy.

I felt bad for Simon, he was so lonely it seemed. Rats are very social and so I called the pet store we adopted Simon & Nigel from and asked if they had any rats for adoption. They did! They had Theo (prenamed)who was dropped off by his previous owners. The pet store lady wasn't sure how old he was or anything about him, except that he was having breathing problems and they were feeding him cat food to fatten him up (not supposed to do that!!!). I said I'd like to check him out, it sounds like he'd be a great fit. I didn't want to expose a healthy rat to Simon just in case, so this sounded like a possibility. When we drove to Mankato, I was so excited. At the store, I picked up Theo and he was just a soft little love. He let me carry him around the whole store and loved to sit on my shoulder like the boys do and hide in my hair.

I did all the steps to exposing Simon and Theo to each other and they hit it off. Once they were finally in the cage together, they snuggled and cleaned each other and had a great time together.

Sadly, as we were getting ready to leave for our District Convention on July 2, I found Theo had died. I knew he was sick, I just didn't think I would only have him for 3 weeks. We have decided to not get another rat. I am just trying to love on Simon more. Simon is doing okay, he's still breathing rough, but not as rough as the other two. I think he's lonely and it's sad.

Our "Keep on the Watch!" District Convention was awesome. I saw lots of friends that I haven't seen in years. Makes me happy! The information was what we needed! Don and I really needed that time together as I had been working my Summer Program thru my job and was putting in a lot of OT and not getting the time together that we're used to. We went to Savers on Friday night to see if there were any clothes for Don. Sure enough, we got two pairs of pants, a shirt, tie, couple of books, awesome old decks of cards and a COUCH! Oh my. Yes, we TIED a couch to our STATION WAGON. It was quite the sight to see, I'm sure. We noticed a lot of looks. :-) So now we can cuddle again. We had arm chairs for the past couple of years and we missed that connection.

I think that's about it for now. This is way too long. I hope you stuck it out to the end!!!

Tag, You're It.

I have been tagged by Angi...Here is what I have to do..Go to the place on your computer where you store all your pictures and open the 4th folder.
Open the 4th picture.
Post the picture and give an explanation of what it is.
Tag 4 people.
DO NOT CHEAT!! You cannot edit or crop the picture!!

Here is my photo from our trip to Nebraska in June of 2007. We were on our way to a wedding shoot, and stopped near Omaha, I think? Anyways, we ate at Taco Del Mar...very similar to Chipotle. Cute decorations and stuff...I liked the sign. :-)



I tagged:
Emily
Don
Tony
Julie

What? Could it be? YES!

Blogger is working correctly again for me! Yay! Joy of joys!

January 12 of 12

Thought I'd join in on the 12 of 12. Here's my January....

I love all things Burt's Bees. I don't think I've ever tried something I didn't like!

For lunch I had the last slice of BBQ pizza. Man, was it good.

We've been sending out some family pictures and cards and here's the stack I had to mail out. Still more to write and address!

I'm calling this my self portrait...and I got caught up on some online stuff.

For supper I made pork chops with this delicious sauce. I have always been a barbeque loving fool...and apparently today I needed it twice!

A new season of American Idol!

For my plantar fasciitis I am supposed to take 3 ibuprofen 3 times daily.

In preparation for Season 5 starting on January 21st, Don and I have been rewatching all seasons of LOST.

I also returned my movie, Blind Dating, to Netflix.


I was pretty disappointed this was all I got in the mail.

Don and I are always good at getting our daily water that we should be drinking. But sometimes it's nice to throw a flavor packet in there, too. Right now I'm all about pink lemonade!


I know that I was born and raised here, but this still doesn't amuse me.

New in Town

Last night at work I was reading the Saturday paper and the front page news was about a movie that takes place in New Ulm. Here's the article:

Local businesses gearing up for film’s debut
By KURT NESBITT — Journal Staff Writer
POSTED: January 10, 2009

NEW ULM - Say, have you heard about that new movie that supposedly takes place here - what's it called? - "New In Town?"

It's going to premiere here at the end of the month, just like anywhere else across the country.

In the meantime, a group of local officials and business owners is busy working out ways they can wrap their arms around "New In Town."

The movie was not actually shot in New Ulm, but it takes place in a fictionalized of it, and it stars Renee Zellweger as a Miami businesswoman who agrees to transfer to the fictitious New Ulm in order to gain a promotion back in Miami and falls in love with Harry Connick Jr.'s character along the way.

"New In Town" will premiere Jan. 30 in New Ulm at all three screens of this city's three-screen movie theater.

The group, which consists of several downtown business owners and city officials, meets every week to come up with ideas on how they can create more awareness about New Ulm on a national level to bring people to see genuine article.

To get more people to notice the "real New Ulm," the group is planning a "potluck" premiere to try and trade on what they call "New Ulm Nice" that may feature one of the film's stars arriving on a fire engine or a snowmobile and possibly carrying a potluck to the red-carpet premiere.

The Mall of America will host a pre-screening of "New In Town" on Jan. 26, where star Harry Connick, Jr., will be present to sign autographs for the first 100 people who get wristbands. Kokesch said a 'tapioca' tasting and a 'winter' fashion show are also going to be part of the Jan. 26 event.

The tie-in with tapioca pudding is that the butter plant that Renee Zellweger's character is assigned to take charge of is repurposed into a tapioca factory.

Tickets for the pre-screening are available through the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce.

Canyon Outback is making leather jackets with the film's logo for Connick and Zellweger, which New Ulm Mayor Joel Albrecht will present at the film's official premiere on Jan. 30. The Chamber will also sell t-shirts with the film's logo on it.

"We're just in the initial planning phases for both events," said Barbara Stirling, director of the New Ulm Retail Development Corporation.

"This is just a round table discussion. Wheels are turning with ways we can promote the city of New Ulm," said Kokesch.

Carmike Cinemas, which owns the New Ulm 3 as well as a number of theaters in the Twin Cities, has agreed to help promote the movie.

They said AMPI, which had a representative at the meeting Friday, is apprehensive about how the film portrays their New Ulm butter plant. The film reportedly involves a butter plant on the verge of closure, which Renee Zellweger's character takes over and converts into a tapioca pudding factory.

Stirling said AMPI bought advertising in order to quell rumors that its real-life butter plant is closing.

"This needs to be appropriate, but we also need to realize that it will have residuals five years from now," Kokesch said.


I hadn't heard about any of this! Once home, I Googled "New in Town filming" and found out it was filmed in Winnipeg. WHY!? We could've had an awesome thing here in our town. I wonder why that didn't happen? I watched the trailer, and once again, we sound silly. J.K. Simons, the Dad from Juno (also took place in MN, but filmed elsewhere)and Siobhan Fallon sound like they were taught how to talk Minnesotan by the Fargo actors.

I am still excited to see this movie. I LOVE Harry Connick, Jr and am still excited, nonetheless, that our town is represented. I just hope that we don't get the same reaction that people had post-Fargo.

Here's the trailer. I love that song, too, by the by. (I can't find what it's called or who sings it!)





And the link for the film:www.newintownmovie.com