Good thing Mom and Dad flew out yesterday! (Stay tuned for pics/stories of the family reunion this weekend - however, I didn't get any great pictures. . .so bear with me . . . also check back for a blog about my new fave: Cheerleading Class at LifeTime!!)
Ok - so we're just hours away to going back to work - but to fulfill my promise of blogging every day of my break:
HAPPY EASTER, DAMMIT!
Jon and Genevieve invited me to join them as they hosted the clan for Easter. Thanks for that - I had a blast! Jon and Genevieve put on a great spread - and everyone helped out to come up with this great table!!
We had ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, potato salad, baked beans, asparagus, broccoli salad, wild rice salad, green jello salad . . and buns/pickles/olives . . . . (not to mention the apps and desserts - hello Southwest Eggrolls and Raspberry Cha Cha(???)!!)
Anyway - it was tons of fun - and a great way to spend my last day of vacation!
Roll Call:
Our Hosts - Jon . . . . .
. . . and Genevieve
Zach & Kelsey
Abby, Michele, Heidi
Mary Joy & Greg
Me and Julie
PS - Of course - I stopped over to see Alice's haul tonight - and Lonny & Jaime fed me homemade pizza! Hazzah!
Simple Saturday. . . ahhh. . where did the Spring Break go?? EEK.
1. Started early at the gym - after I SHOVELED the sidewalk in front of my house - and my neighbor's house - WHERE IS SPRING?!?!?!?
2. Ran to Archivers for more supplies - headed home to shower.
3. Jaymie joined me for a quiet afternoon of scrappin'.
4. Heidi came over in the afternoon to kill time between activities (and to watch Scott Baio finale) - turns out her dinner plans sort of fizzled - so I made teriyaki salmon (bought it already seasoned) and sweet potato fries. Pretty darn good if I do say so myself!!
5. As Heidi left - I headed out too - of course I had some errands to do - and tomorrow being Easter - no shops will be open (right?) - went to Alice's - I guess she made me an Easter Egg!! We sat on the kitchen floor visiting for a bit - but when it was time for me to leave - she didn't want me to take the egg. :) Oh well, there's a cute egg with "Carrie" on it in Alice's basket! Then on to my Target/Rainbow run.
6. Did a TAD more layout type stuff at home -but mostly chilled and watched TV - and of course - fell asleep - (so yes, I'm totally cheating and blogging this Sunday morning) tee hee hee.
What a great day today was! And it wasn't even planned out! (I love days like that!)
Started out with a planned trip to the gym with Andrea. We went to the 9:15am Aqua Class again. (Different instructor this tim. . eh. . . ) After the instructor asked Andrea if this was her first Aqua class (yes, we look a little young for this class . . . she kept giving us special attention. . making sure we knew what we were doing. Eh . . I liked the girl from WED better. ANYWAY - we did sit in the whirlpool for a little bit after class - that was cool - and geez old ladies are nice! We had people in the class chit chatting with us - and a very nice group of ladies doing hair/makeup in the locker room! We chatted about Easter plans and homosexuality in Iran(!) :) Neat ladies - bummer that the 9:15 classes are done for us - at least until summer (and then only on Fridays due to summer school).
Andrea and I had a plan to go to Caribou after today's class. That was nice - we actually sat a had our coffees and chatted. Nice and relaxing morning.
Auntie Sue had called me when I was at the gym - so calling her back - she was checking on me - and also wanting to coordinate a time to stop over and drop some things off to me. I was already 1/2 way to Blaine by being at the Spring Lake Park Caribou - so said I'd drive up to her. After she insisted I bring her a Mocha too - we agreed on the plan. :) Yeah - so yadda yadda yadda - we had coffee, visited, had salads for lunch, visited some more. . and before ya knew it - it was almost 5pm and Uncle Bob was home from work!! Unplanned - but what a great afternoon with my Auntie Sue!
Driving home from Blaine, I called Lonny. I had mentioned to them earlier this week - that I'd like to have them over for dinner either Fri or Sat - and being that it was 5pm Friday - and we hadn't talked about it - I wanted to make sure they weren't on their way over to my house! Lonny was just about home - and I guess they had talked about getting Quizno's for dinner. Perfect! I'll pick it up! So stopped in Roseville - with a plan to pop into Archivers to get some paper. Ahhh. . . that will take too long - I'll just get the subs. BUT - as I'm driving into the parking lot of that little shopping area - I see a van with "Al Franken" bumper sticker and "Happy Bunny" sticker . . .and I'm like, . .. .I know that van! Yup Julie was at Archivers. . and already knew Sarah and Katie were attending ScrapMania . . .so I popped in - and said hi to my two worlds . .which were colliding at Archivers! :) ANYWHOO . . .yes - I got the subs and had dinner with the fam.
More scrapbooking when I got home - and a nice long chat with Jaymie on the phone. . . .all makes for a pretty darn good day!
(Oh yes - and the puppies have LOVED the 6 inches of snow that we now have in the backyard again!!)
Today started out simple - I scrapbooked in the morning. At about 11:15 or so Andrea called in sick to our gym venture - which was cool - as I had my body-age assessment anyway - and we wouldn't have been "work out buddies" today anyway. So at noon I met with Alex. We ran through some tests (surveys, heart rate, strength, etc.) . . and the magic number for me is 44. As in, my body thinks it's 44 years old! EEK! So along with the goals of weight loss, staying away from diabetes, and just generally FEELING better - my new goal is to get my body down to 35 years old - if not YOUNGER! Alex was very encouraging - and I have my first training session Monday afternoon. This will create a workout/plan for me - taking into account the aforementioned assessments - as well as my herniated disc! :) In the meantime - Aqua class again tomorrow morning -and maybe a quick Saturday AM trip before Jaymie comes over to scrapbook!
After the gym - I met Becky for lunch at Chilis. (yes, I was good - I had grilled chicken tacos - ok so there was some bacon and cheese - but NO chips or fries!!) Followed this with a trip to Target - and a stop at Alice's to allow Jaime to run an errand. (and as usual - I stayed for dinner! THANKS LON & JAIME!)
I'm lounging in my new Victoria Secret PJs that just arrived yesterday (they were on backorder) - and I'm happy to say that they're TOO BIG!! (but I still look cute in them!) :)
Today wasn't all that crazy of a schedule - the best part of the day was the trip to The Children's Museum in St. Paul.
1. Awake by 7am - dogs had to pee.
2. Got dressed and headed to Lon/Jaime's to crash Lon & Alice's "Daddy/Daughter Day" at TCM. (Lonny made a cute "Sesame Street" Video of part of our day on Alice's Blog)
3. Had a great time with Alice as she did all the things she loved the first time at The Children's Museum. (Especially the Water Works Room - see photos at left!)
4. Enjoyed a bag lunch (mini picnic) at TCM. (was cheaper & healthier than McDonald's, was peaceful, was yummy)
5. Finished fun day in the Habitot room. Alice mastered the slide - and could have spent the rest of the afternoon going up and down!
6. Met Andrea for a Latin Something or Other class at Lifetime - but she wussed out - thank god - because of the "dance off" at the end of the class. Hello! Dance?!?!? Me?!?!?! Dance Off??? Egad woman! The treadmill served us just fine thanks!
7. Home for lazy evening of tv/scrapbooking . . . oh yeah - and my new favorite snack - frozen yogurt, berries, granola.
8. Tuckered out. :) Going to bed.
Well Geez Louise People! I can't blog about the day til it's DONE!! Holdjer Horses!!
1. Slept-in til 8am again today.
2. Picked up Andrea to make it to our 9:15 Aqua Class at Lifetime - a little late - but we were there!
3. Showered/Dressed at gym - headed over to pick up Alice.
4. Drove out to Maple Grove to meet friends/coworkers Terry & Judy (& their little nephew/grandkids) at Chuck-E-Cheese!!
5. Alice took a little time to warm up to the idea of a loud pizza joint with kids and tickets and tokens and a giant mouse walking around - but in the end - she was totally into it! She completely "got it" that Auntie Carrie had tokens in the little cup - and that we put them in the little slot in front of the machine and then something cool happens for a little bit, and then tickets come out! YAY! We won tickets! Seriously - she was completely ticked off when I took her tickets and put them in a machine to be counted! - but then another ticket came out - with our number on it - and then she got to pick out her "Real" prizes. Alice walked out with the coolest bracelets and Chuck-E-Cheese tatoos!
Playing on the Toddler Slide
Push the Button - Get the balls in the Frog's Mouth!
Best Ball Game of All Time!
Alice and her PRIZED Tickets!
6. Alice and I headed over to Borders to use the 40% off CDs coupon I had burning a hole in my purse. We found 2 CDs - The Muppet Show & Sesame's Platinum Something or Other. We listened to the Sesame one in the car - I think it's a keeper! (- and of course - I couldn't resist getting her a book - hey! It was a Bargain Book at least!)
7. Ah - Naptime didn't really work out - but Alice did hang out in her crib for awhile whist Jaime ran into work. When both parents returned home - we got Porky's take-out. Eh. It was ok.
8. Home for the evening - working on a scrapbook - mostly just formatting right now - and BLOGGING so you people quit harassing me!! :)
And tomorrow will rock too - so STAY TUNED!
Well - today's officially Day 1 of my week off - and I've already kicked-ass in the "getting things done" department. And yes, I really am going to try and blog every day of my break - so here goes!
1. Slept in til about 8am - slowly showered and got dressed, ran some errands (including copying and picking up photos for a scrapbook I'm working on), got coffees for me & Jaime, then headed over to Alice's house.
2. Watched Alice while Vanhtha did his taxes and Jaime ran into work. Then I took my turn and got my taxes filed after Jaime got back home.
3. Joined friend Andrea at Lifetime Fitness - to begin a week of free trial - but signed up anyway - cuz I knew I was going to anyway. We just did some time on the treadmill - but HEY - it's 20 more minutes of activity than I normally would have done!
4. Went tanning.
5. Joined Vanhtha and friend Bridget at Macaroni Grill for steak dinner to celebrate V's birthday!! Happy Birthday!! Here's a photo of V and Bridget as the singing waiter surprises the birthday boy with chocolate cake and a serenade!
6. FOUND! and purchased a Nike swimsuit - as aforementioned friend Andrea is totally into the Aqua class at Lifetime - so was VERY needed - and hey - the last swimsuit I purchased was 3 years ago - so - I've justified it! :)
7. And now I'm home - thinking of doing a load of laundry - but maybe not. . the couch is calling . . the frozen yogurt and raspberries I got yesterday are also calling. . . so we'll see! I could totally just crash tho too! :) . . Dontcha just LOVE vacation!?!?!
Ok - so I haven't had much to blog about - this past week was last one before spring break (which started FRIDAY 3:25pm!!) Yay!
But last weekend, I did take Alice up to Sue and Bob's for dinner - and got some cute shots. All of Sue's grandkids were there - so Alice had a blast. Caleb and Alice enjoyed Green Sherbet in a cone!! (eek!) Here are the adorable shots.
So - I'm on vacation - with plans to hang with Alice, friends, work on a scrapbook . . . maybe enjoy a book whilst hanging out at Caribou - yeah - it's time for some catch-up and relaxing. I'll try to keep you posted with my low-key week!
:) Carrie
I spent Friday, Saturday, and Today in St. Paul!
Friday/Saturday
After work on Friday, I headed up to Andover to pick up Beth, her friend, and her brother and headed downtown. We met Jaymie at Rice Park - and enjoyed the rest of the evening at the Excel. Jaymie's company has a box at the Excel - so we purchased some seats from which to enjoy the State Wrestling Tournament. Even tho we shared Friday night with some friends of Jaymie's coworker - it was still a good time.
Saturday was more of the same - this time Hayden and kids joined us - and we had the box to ourselves. 
Sunday
I joined Lon/Jaime/Alice to their first ever trip to the Children's Museum. (Sesame Street exhibit is in town - and we wanted to catch it.) So much fun was had by all - that while eating lunch we decided to go back to the box office - to put our day's fee toward a family package (with the $20 "Caregiver/Nanny" add on for ME!) And except for the fact that the dork wouldn't count my paid admission into the package (as I didn't have the receipt for the CASH transaction - and standing there IN the place - with my Museum sticker displayed didn't count for much) - SO - other than that - boom badda boom - we are now "Members" and can go whenever we want - for FREE! These pictures are proof positive that today's money and membership fee was well worth it all - and will pay for itself many times over in the next 12 months!!
Cutest Family Ever on their way to the Best DAY ever!
Probably her favorite spot - the Water Room.
Balls and Water?!?!?!? Say it ain't so!!
Sittin' on the steps to Susan & Gordon's apartment
She's dancing to "C is for Cookie"
Daily - "Big Fun" takes place in the Atrium. Music, Props, Toddlers.
More Big Fun
. . . Ok, and moms and dads (& aunties) can have Big Fun too!
