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Gina

Gina Wiitanen


Last Updated: 3/24/2009

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Gender: Female
Status: Married
Age: 27
Sign: Scorpio

City: omaha
State: Nebraska
Country: US
Signup Date: 8/15/2006

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Saturday, March 22, 2008 
I made a tribute page for Donna D. on America’s Favorite Mom contest site.

If you could, click on the link to view my mom’s page, and if you felt so moved, you could help me out by voting for her! Thanks a bunch!

Gina :)

https://www. americasfavoritemom. com/mothers-day-2008/mom/Donna-D-6079
8:46 PM 
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Monday, January 08, 2007 
Since I'm unable to sleep, I thought I'd fill you in on our week!
 
Shortie:  Good week, no sleep for the first half.  Babysitting Courses taught by Gina.  Great visit from Lutheridge friends, Jason, Juli and baby James on Wednesday.  Jeff studied all weekend.  Still lots of peeps out here without power.
 
Long...ie?:
 
Well, the theme this week was hit the ground running.  We enjoyed having New Year's off on Monday and didn't do a whole heck of a lot.  We were both unable to sleep that night with the anticipation of the week to come.  Sleep count: 3 hours for Gina
 
Tuesday we were back to work, and boy did I have a lot to get done for teaching babysitting this week, as well as getting volunteers ready to run two events on Saturday.  Jeff was out of the office a couple days.  Sleep count: 4 hours for Gina
 
Wednesday, I was exhausted after two non-sleeping to my full potential nights, but drove out to Kearney to teach babysitting.  All went pretty well, for it being my very first time, but things didn't go as well when the power shut off for the entire afternoon.  I got home around 5 and rested for a few minutes before putting final cleaning touches on the house as Jason, Juli and baby James arrived after 6 pm.  We visited for a little while and ate at Fazoli's for dinner.  Jeff had fun holding the baby and teaching him the proper way to hold his bottle.  It was so fun to catch up with Jason and Juli and share in laughs and fun memories of Lutheridge days.  And also to hear as to how their lives have changed since James joined them 6 months ago.  Jason and I stayed up until 3 cracking jokes and making fun of an HGTV show.  He's the same ol' Tricker.  Sleep count: 3 hours for Gina
 
Thursday, I taught babysitting in Grand Island.  It went so well I can't even believe.  The girls were into it and were so sweet, I loved every second of it, which was good so I didn't fall asleep on them.  I came home and took a nap...which was evidently much needed, then hung out with Jeff and watched movies and TV until 11.  Then I really got to sleep in on Friday.  Including nap, Gina's sleep count: 12 hours (that's more than the three previous days combined)
 
Friday, back in the office to get ready for the weekend.  Tried to leave early but everyone took off in the afternoon, so thought I should help the other couple ladies get done what they needed to.  I made soup for dinner and Jeff and I relaxed all night and went to bed at a decent time.
 
Saturday, woke up with a scratchy throat.  Laid low, and did a little grocery shopping, watched movies last night.
 
Today, I was up and out of here at 9:30 am, headed toward O'Neill (2 hours North), taught babysitting for 5 hours, and got home at 9:30 pm.  Sounded like the self-sustaining events went well yesterday too.  Jeff spent a little time studying on Sat. and more time since it was quiet today studying.  1.5 months and hopefully he'll be taking his last part ever.  Jeff also watched football and the Red Wings lose several times this weekend.
 
I guess the only other news is that some of my co-workers are still without power.  Linda Barker hasn't been in her house all week, no power, no heat.  So please pray for those who are without power and aren't lucky enough to have a place to go.  They say it may take several more weeks to get it all up in running.
 
That's about it.  Glad this week will be slower paced.  I'm working mostly half-days this week (as I explained to Sara W. tonight...the adult interterm I guess) and Jeff will be at the office 3 days, and tax-planning out of the office 2 days.  I hope to regain my total health and sleep a little more.  I need to get back into my Kiwanis and Key Club routine this week as well.  Should be easy.
 
Well, hope you all have a terrific week and may you show His love to others in your work or school this week.  Thanks for the inspiration Max Lucado....
 
Lub,
 
Jeff and Gina :)
4:16 PM 
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Monday, January 01, 2007 
In Short:  Good rest of the week.  We arrived home safely, and in good timing, as it's terribly icy.  We spent New Year's with Jan Miller who was passing through.  It's back to the grind tomorrow, I'll be busy teaching Babysitting Classes this week, and Jeff will be adjusting to Tax Season hours.  We have friends Jason and Juli staying with us this week as they pass through.  THE END.
 
 
In Long:
I think I wrote late Tuesday night...and stayed up too late.  But apparently not as late as Bradley...I hit 4, and Bradley beat me with 7 am...so he was a little tired on Wednesday.  We mostly hung around the house on Wednesday, and I got some way on my cross-stitching.  We watched the Wings and Brad and Jeff left before the 3rd period to head up to Treasure Island Casino in Red Wing.  I continued to stitch.  Thursday Jeff took me around shopping and found a few things at Target, and found some Wallflowers at Bath and Body for a great price (and boy do they work well...the house smells great!) and a few other places as well.  I managed to spend less than he did at the casino the previous night, so all was good!  We played some more pictionary on Thursday and of course the ladies won.  We evened up the teams on Thursday night with Jeff and I on one team, and Nancy and Glenn on the other.  Jeff and I won, but wasn't such a wash-out.
 
Friday was spent driving.  I drove to Des Moines, and Jeff drove the rest of the way, while I nearly finished my cross-stitch piece.  We hit some funky weather in Nebraska, but not for long.  We were glad to be home when we were.  We spent the evening, unpacking and putting away all of our new goods.  I stayed up way too late packing up packages, finishing my cross-stitch and working on items around the house.
 
My parents woke me up at 10 on Saturday morning, asking while I was still in bed, and me explaining to them, that at that point I had gotten only 5.5 hours of sleep!  I'm sure that wasn't the answer they were expecting to hear! :)  I got up and headed to the post office.  Then Jeff headed out the Bank.  Then we both showered up and did a big grocery shopping that happens bi-annually for us.  We also hit the movie store and dollar tree to pick up 100 sets of pom poms (for our cheer clinic next week).  We lost power around 11 PM and we worried it wouldn't come back on that night so grabbed about 10 blankets and settled in for a long winter's nap.  Jeff even put my winter hat on my head, afraid I would get cold, in which he and his family call a "Chook."  So at 1:30 when the power came back on, I chucked my chook off and could finally fall asleep.  And boy was I tired with minimal sleep the previous two nights.
 
On Sunday, it was pure ice outside so we were glad we had no need to go out in it.  Jan Miller called us in the afternoon, wondering if we would be around for her to crash at our place.  We did some cleaning in the meantime, and took down all Christmas decorations and are now ready for Winter and Valentine's with all the new decorations up.  Jan arrived around 7 pm, and we had BBQ Beef sandwiches for dinner.  We spent the evening watching some football, and watching "You, Me and Dupree" and "Annapolis"  both good movies.  Headed to bed around 12:45.
 
This morning we ate breakfast and said bye to Jan, at least some of the ice is melting, so she'll be a little safer on the roads.  Jeff is watching 28 bowl games simultaneously, so I opted to check and write e-mails.  We have a little more cleaning to get done, before our busy week begins.
 
This week, we both go back tomorrow, and I have a lot to prepare for, because I have babysitting classes on Wednesday (in Kearney), Thursday (in GI) and Sunday (in O'Neill--2 hours north).  So I need to coordinate with the Red Cross tomorrow to pick up my kits.  Jeff also could very well have a busy week, because...it's tax season.  One of his supervisors resigned at the end of the year, and he thinks it's going to be brutal without him, compared to the last couple tax seasons.  So he's thinking he'll be working in the near future, 50-60 hr. weeks.  So still not as bad as some firms, but maybe a little worried with long days and being motivated when he gets home to study for the 4th and final part.  Also this week, I'm excited to report that good friends Jason, Juli and their 3-4 month old baby James, will be driving through and staying the night with us Wed. or Thurs.  I met both of them at Lutheridge, and gave Jason fondly the name "Tricker" (which is how my mom remembers him), and he just had his PhD thesis approved to receive his degree in Chemistry from Purdue.  So I'm sure he's very excited to have some time off after that hard work.  So that will be great to see them this week and visit.  I hadn't seen them since they came and saw me sing during Choir Tour, Spring 2002. 
 
Well, it's time to sign-off.  Hope you all have a wonderful day today and happy new year!
 
Jeff and Gina :)
 
I'll send a link to our pictures later...
7:12 PM 
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Wednesday, December 27, 2006 
I have got to get back in my routine!  This 10 day stuff is too hard.  But hopefully, no worries, I'm writing late, so that I can actually get to bed, as that is my goal at this point :)
 
Short Version: Jeff had fun with Tim and Hans the weekend prior to Christmas.  I had fun visiting with Lisa and her family while she was down in Omaha.  Quick work week.  Traveled to MN on Thursday.  Brad flew in Friday.  Went to a Wings Vs. Wild game on Saturday.  Jeff found out he passed part 3 of CPA exam...very exciting!  Christmas Eve we played pictionary, went to Church and exchanged gifts.  Christmas was spent up in the cities at the Great Lodge water park and hotel, which was a ton of fun and neat way to spend Christmas.
 
Longer:
 
Well, it was a short week at work, but prior to that it was the weekend.  We had Tim over as I think you know, and Hans came in late on Saturday night and the boys had fun together.  Sunday, I got up and on my way to Omaha to visit with Lisa and Keith and her folks, by eating at Olive Garden and heading to Westside Church for a Christmas Pageant.  It was wonderful to be with them, and on the way home I stopped in Lincoln for a Cheerwine...yea!  I headed directly to Ryan and Megan's for our TNT Christmas Party and White Elephant gift exchange.  I received a Christmas tree that you are suppose to put cheeses and Vienna sausages on with toothpicks...it's one of a kind for sure.  Jeff received a "Property of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXL" t-shirt...too funny!  We had a fun time fellowshipping with our group around the holidays!
 
Monday was back to work...boy was there a lot to do to get everything ready to go when I got back...I really faced that music on Wednesday, when I stayed late at work.  Tuesday night we packed Christmas dinner bags at Salvation Army with the youth group, to be handed out to underprivileged people in the community.  We had a good assembly line going, so it was fun.  Jeff had off Wednesday, which was probably good with freezing rain we got...glad he didn't have to drive in on that.  Like I said I worked late on Wednesday, so I didn't have to go in on Thursday, and we could just get on the road before the Denver storm started heading our way.  Glad we did!  We packed and got ready until after midnight, and got up at a decent time on Thursday morning to get on the road.
 
Thursday, then of course was driving, but Jeff did have a special thing in mind for lunch...Jimmy John's.  It was great!  We got to Rochester for dinner and socializing.  Watched the Viking's lose, which I'm sure was fine with the Whaley's who were at the game!
 
Friday, Jeff and I slept in and did some last minute shopping for his folks, and got back for dinner and that's when Jeff's mom and Bradley arrived in from the airport.  I know Jeff really was glad to see and spend time with Brad.  We did pick up one surprise...a cookie from the cookie company at the mall...oh boy is that yummy!  We saw one of Jeff's friends, Nate at the mall and caught up with him.
 
On Sunday, all five of us went to have lunch at this great restaurant, The Hubble House.  It was sure a great treat!  Nancy and I afterward, glanced through a few gift stores.  We stopped back in Rochester for a little while, then started making the drive up to the twin cities.  We went into the Xcel Center for a battle between the MN Wild, and the Wiitanen's favorite team, The Detroit Red Wings.  We got real close to them during warm ups and I snapped some pics.  Then we went to our seats, to watch a very uneventful two periods, and a more exciting, third period, and disappointing overtime.  Oh well.  It was great to see live hockey that's for sure!  They even had the mascots play on the ice at half-time...Merry Christmas to me!  I watched TV for awhile, while Jeff headed to bed.  A little while later, Jeff came out to the computer, and after a minute, he was jumping up and down.  I looked at the screen to see he passed the 3rd part out of 4 of his CPA exam...so the excitement made sense.  We talked about his plans and motivation for awhile and went to bed.  What a great Christmas Gift the Nebraska Board of Accountants gave Jeff this year.  He plans to take the next test in late February, and will find out (hopefully positive results) in March.  He has until July to pass this part, so it seems pretty feasible, if he cracks down on the book here, which he is quite motivated to do.  So proud of what he's been able to accomplish with this test in 2006---three parts...very impressive!
 
On Sunday, Jeff got up and told the family the good news, and of course they thought that was great.  I talked to my family back in SC for a little while, which was great.  We went out and picked up some stuff, and came home and the five of us played a mean game of Pictionary.  Bradley found out what it was like to be on the guys team.  Just a little FYI...Nancy and I win every time because, for example, if the word is the Rockies, instead of drawing mountains and pointing to the CO area of the US Map you would draw, Jeff starts drawing baseball...it's always entertaining.  So all the boys draw their sports analogies, and Nancy and I...well we just draw thing that are coherent and we win.  It was still a fun game, but so funny to watch how Bradley comes up with some of those dingers too, like his brother.  We surely know they are all related!  We played twice again tonight, and the ladies continue to be victorious.  OK, so after Pictionary, we went to church, then came back, ate dinner and opened gifts from one another.  The Wiitanen's, Bradley, Janet and Grandma and Grandpa Lack were quite generous to us.  Thank you for the wonderful gifts.  After Midnight we called it quits and went to bed.
 
Monday morning, Christmas morning, we got up and packed and looked in our stockings to see what Santa brought us.  More fun stuff!  Then we were off to the cities to visit the Great Lodge Hotel and Water park.  Nancy and Glenn reserved a room there as part of our Christmas.  We unloaded our stuff and changed into our swimsuits and enjoyed the largest indoor water park in America on Christmas.  This place had maybe around  6 slides, one was a family ride, where you sit in a giant inter-tube and ride it down a big tube, which was probably my favorite...when Bradley's knee doesn't clobber me in the head...and there were several speed slides, and other slides where you ride down in a tube.  Then there was a lazy river, a wave pool and the coolest, newest thing in the water entertainment, and surf machine thing, where water rushes up and you jump on a boogie board and simulate that surf feeling.  Jeff, Brad and I tried that.  We did better than we imagined.  I took a fuzzy picture of Jeff, but will send that when I get home.  The whole park was fun and entertained us for probably 4-5 hours...it was fun.  We showered up and Jeff and Brad played this Pacman game Glenn got for Christmas for awhile, while Nancy and Glenn sat by the fire down in the lobby.  I began not feeling well around 9...don't know if it was exhaustion after doing all the stairs, the chlorine getting to me or what, but stayed close to bathrooms and trash cans until the nausea passed after I feel asleep.  While I was beginning to fall asleep, the four played a Texas Hold 'Em tourney which Nancy will be glad I mentioned that she ended up winning.
 
We got up this morning, Nancy and Glenn went and enjoyed the park a few more hours.  I was feeling better, but still had a headache...could be from my knock in the head, or dehydration, but much better none-the-less.  Then, we packed up the car and went to IKEA across the street.  It's fun to look through that stores...bought a few things, then headed to the Mall of America across the parking lot, to eat and do a little shopping.  It was busy, but not as busy as I could have imagined.  It's nice to get over there when we can though.  We headed back around 3 or so.  Then tonight we watched some TV, played Pictionary as I mentioned, then I've watched some TV and am coming close to finishing my cross-stitch project.  I've also had some time to look at people's profiles and pictures on Myspace and Facebook...which has been fun.
 
At the moment, no big new year plans...just renting movies and snuggling I think are on the agenda...so much for this e-mail being short...it took nearly 45 minutes to write...need sleepy...
 
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed your families as I'm learning those get-togethers are now fewer and far between, so worth much enjoyment!
 
Have a great rest of the week, and will probably wish you a Happy New Year in a few days!
 
Gina the Squid, Jeff the Seal and Brad the Fish
9:45 AM 
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Monday, December 18, 2006 
I just looked and I haven't wrote since just after Thanksgiving.  That's nearly three weeks!  Well, I have quite a few things to catch you up on so bear with me.
 
Short Version:  Hard to put all this into words...hmm...we're alive and well.  We've had car and mice problems.
 
Hopefully it doesn't take three weeks to read this:
 
The week prior to my mom's arrival on Dec. 2ND was quite literally filled with preparing for my huge Jingle Camp that would be occurring on the same day.  Jeff's week, that week, was spent preparing for his work's Christmas Party....well almost his whole week :)
 
Friday, December 1st, we both left work a little early and Jeff and I drove separately to Lincoln.  We got out of town a little later than we would have liked, so had very limited time shopping at the Lincoln Mall's "Steve and Barry's" store.  We grabbed a couple items and raced back to the hotel which Jeff's Company was putting us up in.  We dropped off our stuff and walked with the crowd to Pea o' Pears (not sure if that's spelled right).  We had unlimited drinks and a nice chicken breast sandwich for dinner.  Nothing fancy, but still tasty.  The guys would get a drink and put in their order for the next one.  After dinner there was a bus that took us to the Lincoln Stars hockey game, who happened to play against the Tri-City Storm (the Kearney Hockey team).  In the first four minutes there was a fight and two goals, so the non-hockey loving crowd seemed entertained.  Of course they filled Jeff's time with question and it was funny to hear them call the face off, the "puck off."  I guess I realize then that I know a thing or two about the game.  There was more drinking at the game and afterward we headed back to Pea o Pears.  I talked for awhile with a few of Jeff's co-workers but headed back around 11 because I was needing to get up at 5:30 am to head to GI for my camp.  I got in my jammies, turned on Conan for a few minutes, and started to fall asleep.  Then all of a sudden, next door there had to be around 20 people that fled into the hotel room.  They sounded like drunk college kids that didn't know the meaning of keep your voice down.  I called the front desk after 10 minutes and they sent up someone from security to quiet them down.  I heard the pounding at the door and the warning he gave.  It worked real good...for less than a minute, then they were back at the yelling.  Jeff came back around 1 am, and said he could hear the room when he got off the elevator around 50 feet away.  He was pissed and walked down to the front desk, and the security guys came up and actually kicked them out of the room.  They were gone quickly and I was asleep by 2 am.  So much for trying to be responsible...it didn't work anyway! 
 
So it was a quick night and then I was driving 100 miles to GI.  I met up with Cathy out at camp and the PAs came soon after me.  I had them work on the projects to get hints as to how they would be able to help the girls.  Our first 50 came, and it was a little hectic, but all went OK.  They all finished making their Cookie Mix in a Mason Jar, their Memory Board and their Reindeer from logs, with going about a half hour over time.  The next 50 girls came just after we ate a little lunch, and we spread them out a little better, and they were all done before the time was suppose to be up.  Our last group of 50 was a tougher one.  We didn't have as much participation from the parents, which didn't help the girls get done in a very timely fashion, so this group took an entire hour extra, and didn't get done until 5:30.  The best part about this session is that Mom arrived around 3:30 and got to see me doing my job.  She seemed to think it was really cool.  She got along really well with Cathy and Joe too.  We cleaned up after the crazy day and Jeff, Mom, Cathy, Joe and I went out to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner.  We didn't make it all that long into the evening, we were all whopped.
 
Sunday morning, the 3rd, Mom and I went to church while Jeff stayed home and waited for her suitcase to arrive.  Good thing she packed some things in her carry on.  Mom got to meet all of our friends at church, which was neat.  We went to Walmart and Sam's afterward to get some groceries for the week.  We made dinner, and Janet called Jeff and I to tell us about the cuts at Midland.  We were so frustrated at Titus and how this will effect Sara.  Just terrible.  We got ready quick for the Singing Christmas Tree that the three of us and our Young Adult Group attended.  Afterward, Jeff took us out for Ice cream....perfect on a day with degrees in the Teens.  We got home and watched Ice Age 2, to top it off.
 
Monday the 4Th, I took the day off.  Mom and I just sat around and talked in the Living Room until the early afternoon.  She caught me up on the family happenings.  Then we were off to Hancock Fabrics, Dollar Tree and Walmart for Mouse traps.  We then went to Aerobics where Mom was able to join in on the fun.  We watched the movie Little Man that night.  We set out a mouse trap to see if there were any in the garage.
 
On Tuesday the 5th,  Jeff went out to work and told my mom the mouse trap was gone.  So either a mouse moved it somehow, or there was a bigger varmint in our garage!  Mom accompanied me to work, as I was only in for a couple hours to work on budgets, etc. for Jingle Camp, so she brought her sodoku and was set.  That way she met a few ladies from the office too.  We had Runza for lunch and stopped into Gordman's and found a few good deals.  We took the car into the Ford Place because of the lights blinking which was Jeff's duty..oh probably about 2 months prior...but seeing I didn't have to take extra time off of work, we just tried to take care of it.  They thought the problems and parts wouldn't come in until the following day so they took care of us by giving us a rental car for the next 24 hours.  We got home and begin the search of the mouse trap.  We took out all our plastic tubs and put them in the middle of the garage.  Of course when we moved the last tubs, was when we found the trap, empty with only gray hair on it.  We figured they wedged themselves between two things and got off.  So it was time to lay more traps...with duct tape to keep them in the ground.  We went inside, made dinner, and ate and the three traps we set (glue traps) had three little mice wiggling on them.  We put four more out, and an hour later, four more little mice.  We put three more out before bed and in the morning we had three more mice waiting for us.  So we didn't chance the mice biting us, my mom grabbed the snow shovel and I held the bag that we put them in.  My mom thought coming to Nebraska in December she may have helped with shoveling snow...but never thought she would be shoveling mice.  Since we felt ten was an epidemic, Jeff called the landlord, who called in an exterminator.  So hopefully we'll get this under control.
 
Wednesday, December 6th, I went into work for a couple hours in the morning.  We made lunch and ran a few errands.  Our big happening of the day was visiting Christopher and Banks at the mall.  Mom had never been, but I had bought clothes there for her and brought or sent them to her...but boy was she in clothing heaven, when finding $2.99 shirts, and $5.99 sweaters and jackets there.  She probably tried on over 50 items, I tried on about 7, and I think she bought around 10 things and I two maybe.  Mom bought it all and it was around $60.  We got some great deals.  Mom realized she couldn't buy some of those clothes at a thrift store for the price that she bought those items for.  We went into Hallmark too, and I got my friend Cathy a nice precious moments thing to add to her collection.  Then we needed to drop by the rental car and pick up our explorer.  We picked it up and headed to Walmart to buy plastic gloves and Lysol wipes for our project of the evening.  We got home, ate dinner and our mission was to wipe down 47 tubs and stack them in our storage place.  This stressed me out a little because I knew this would be time consuming and I needed to straighten up a little because Marsha was to visit the next day.  We went at it hard for an hour, and Jeff organized it all while we wiped and it went by quickly.  Did I mention that we wiped them all down, because there was mouse poop all over them?  So that's why we brought them inside now.  Then straightening up from there.
 
Thursday, December 7th I went into work for a little bit, and mom helped with some laundry.  Marsha arrived at 11 am, and she showed us pictures of her cruise she took last summer to Greece and other surrounding lands.  She had it in the form of power point presentation, and it was so beautiful...it is now on my list of places to see...she showed Ephesus, Athens, Istanbul, Sicily, and Rome as well as other spots that Jesus and the disciples taught at.  Amazing stuff.  We then went to Valentino's for lunch and had the great buffet.  We ate way too much and chatted for the longest time.  We came back to the house and exchanged some Christmas gifts.  Then she was on her way around 4 pm.  It was really a great visit.  We finished up some laundry and I began baking cookies and mom joined in as well, and we were quite disappointed that the office wasn't on that night.
 
Friday, December 8th was a crazy day!  I went into work to get my 2005 review...yes that was my 2005 one.  I scored pretty well in the half of year it was graded on.  It will be combined with my 2006 one that I should be doing next week, for my raise in 07.  It's unfortunate that they can't keep things straight.  We left for Aurora to have lunch with Jeff and we weren't getting along too well with all the new explorer problems we were having.  We then went onto Fremont to visit with Sara and Janet.  We heard about all the commotion at Midland from them and I just felt so bad about the whole situation.  Sounds so stressful.  We dropped by Christmas gifts with them.  I then dropped off some gifts for Nick and Tracey while in town.  We then headed up to Norfolk where we had dinner with the Pinkelman's and John Mayo came over as well.  They cooked up a nice dinner, and we loved watching Mia and all her little tricks.  I think it was fun for mom to see Sarah in her adulthood now with her little family.  It was great catching up with Mayo too.  He's busy working on his Master's and is quite upset about the changes at Midland.  We visited until close to 10 I think, and thought we should make our way back home.  Got in a little past midnight and Jeff was fast asleep.
 
Saturday, December 9 we slept in a little bit after our big day of travels.  We left around 10 to head to Kearney and visit the archway.  It was overpriced, but pretty cool.  They had people in character and there were rooms that led you through the history of the area beginning with the Oregon trail.  It was filmed with life-size diorama's that you could pose with.  Jeff had some funny pictures taken.  At the end you could peer through two small windows and see the traffic on 80 and how fast they're going.  It was worth our time.  We then headed into town to eat lunch at Jimmy John's which was of course fantastic and then to Target, where Jeff and I bought a blanket for our bed to go under the comforter.  We stopped by a winery in Gibbon on our way home where we tasted wine cider which was actually pretty good.  We also ran into my former boss Pat while we were out there who was buying our CEO lady a gift certificate from all of us.  Mom and I picked up a Sam's Pizza and came home to watch the Wings and we introduced Mexican Train Dominoes to Mom...I think it was a little longer than she would have guessed :)
 
Sunday, December 10, we went to church and joined some of our friends there for a brunch at Perkins afterward.  It was fun to watch two of the families and dealing with their kids at the dining facility.  We have so much to learn.  Mom and I worked on cleaning the futon afterward and then her and I headed to the Stuhr Museum.  We looked around at things for probably 3 hours.  We visited with the townspeople and learned a few things, and made a tinsicle, which was neat.  We looked around at the trees decorated by the Girl Scouts and visited the Gift Shop.  Mom found a few things.  We came home, ate dinner and played a couple games.  Mom and I watched TV for awhile since no need to get up early with the day off Monday.
 
Monday, December 11, we had a leisurely day.  Jeff and I got up early to take the Explorer in to get the 4 X 4 looked at being that it wasn't fixed in the $1200 of repairs in the previous week.  We also stopped by the dry cleaners to see if my wedding dress that was delivered in mid-October and would take only 3-4 weeks, wasn't done yet.  Jeff asked for a discount on this $130 cleaning and preservation deal, because it took them double of that, and he said we had to pay the full amount or not take the dress.  I was soo pissed, what customer service.  Needless to say they won't be cleaning any of Jeff's suits from now on.  We came home and went back to sleep, and in the late morning we watched the movie accepted.  Mom and I went to Aerobics.
 
Tuesday, December 12, I had to go into work to catch up on a few things, and then we had a staff meeting starting at 9:30 in Grand Island.  We did that and had our staff Christmas Party afterward at one of the lady's house.  It was fun.  Got home around 4:30.  The car was in really bad shape, it was making all sorts of weird sounds coming from the back axle.  We called the Ford place to have them look at this new problem, and we ended up dropping the car off that night, with a lengthy note saying that I'm beginning to get fed up with their service.
 
Wednesday, December 13, I was in Kearney in the morning for a staff development on Power Point.  It was interesting, and I hope I can use some of the skills I learned.  We had Jimmy John's for lunch (twice in a week!) and we stopped by the Kearney office.  I got home around three and mom and I went in the hot tub, we showered up and went to Kohl's to make some purchases.  We stopped by the Ford place and they said they needed to order a part, so we got another Rental Car to use for Thursday.  Mom and I made one more stop by Christoper and Banks and she found maybe around 5 more things that were newly discounted.  We met Jeff for dinner at Whiskey Creek where the service was pretty crappy that night.  I think it took us over an hour and a half to eat dinner.  We rushed home to watch Divinchi Code and mom packed up.
 
Thursday, December 14 had a few tears involved.  Mom and I got up early and drove to Lincoln where we shopped at Steve and Barry's and of course we stopped by the Christopher and Banks too.  We had a quick lunch at the food court and got to the airport about 11:30.  I helped her with her bags in and said good bye just prior to her going through security.  We shed a few tears and were on our ways.  We had a wonderful visit with Mom and so glad she was able to spend a lot of time with us.  I went back into work after my trip, so about 1:30 and stayed until 6 or so.  So much to catch up on with our upcoming Jan. events.  Jeff came by my work around 4 pm, with a grim look on his face.  He was driving the rental car home and passed someone over a wet yellow center line, and paint splashed up on the car.  We bought this stuff and with some rubbing with rags and an ice scrapper we were able to get the majority off in about an hours time.  If it's not one thing, it's another.  Jeff turned that car back in and we got our explorer back.  They charged us for the rental car this time, so I have to talk to them sometime about that.  I went by Kohl's, then Key Club and came home and wrapped gifts.
 
Then yesterday we both went to work, and on my way to work the 4 X 4 light came on 3 times.  I was so pissed.  I called Jeff when I got to work and he got in the car and drove back to GI.  We both went in with the explorer, and the mechanic I guess was baffled.  He gave us a loner 4 X 4 module to see if that fixes the problem.  We'll have to come in next week to return the loner and get a new one put in.  It seems to be fixing the trick so far, but I am sick of putting money into our car.  Last night we cleaned up a little and just hung out.  It was nice doing nothing.
 
This morning I woke up a little early because we had a Christmas Party for Kiwanis where we take kids shopping for their families, then they wrap them, eat Happymeals and get their own present from Santa.  It was fun again this year.  Then I came home and finished cleaning and prepared for Tim's arrival.  He came in around 3, then Jeff and he went a played some golf.  Yes, golf in December they brag.  We went out to eat at Carlos O'Kelly's tonight and now they are making bets on football games and playing some drinking games, while I'm obviously writing this e-mail...I did take a break I'm sure you'll be happy to know.  I guess Hans might stop through around midnight or 1 am, but I may never know, because I plan to be asleep. 
 
Jeff and Tim will be watching the Vikings game tomorrow, and I am planning to head out to Omaha to visit with Lisa and Keith.  Then tomorrow night at 7 is our White Elephant Gift Exchange with TNT.  So a pretty filled weekend.
 
We will work Monday-Thursday next week.  Looking forward to Christmas break.
 
Well, this is long enough.  Have a great week!
 
Jeppers and Gene
5:00 AM 
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Tuesday, November 28, 2006 
Short:  We had a great week and wonderful Thanksgiving filled with eating, shopping and a Lorie Line Concert.  Thanks to the Wiitanen's for a wonderful Holiday Weekend.
 
The Slightly More Detailed Version:
 
Well, we had a great half of a work week and Thanksgiving.  Jeff was out of the office the beginning of the week as they had an audit type thing in York.  I guess they plan it right every year, because everyone from the car dealership that they were auditing or whatever, the day before thanksgiving, everyone brings a piece of the Thanksgiving Meal.  So they ate good on Wednesday.  My week was fine too.  I did aerobics the only day offered, on Monday.  Then I went to Hobby Lobby for a little bit, because Jeff didn't come home after work on Monday, just stayed out in Aurora for Monday night football.  So I kept busy Monday night with starting my Mexico section of my scrapbook.  Tiffany at work painted on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I left work with a headache I'm guessing from the fumes.  It looks really awesome in her office...it's a beach theme, fitting for that California girl!  I laid around to get rid of the headache a little on Tuesday night, and we packed and got ready.  Jeff cleaned out his trunk, because he hated it that we always used our backseat for everything.  So then Wednesday, I worked until 2, then headed towards York to pick Jeff up.
 
Then it was our Holiday weekend from there, so I'll start a new paragraph.  I drove the whole way, stopping in Des Moines for gas and dinner.  We got in after 10 and we chatted with Nancy and Glenn for awhile.  We then went to bed.  Thursday was turkey day and we mostly ate and played games.  Earlier in the morning we did celebrate Nancy's birthday.  Glenn bought us a Newspaper, and Nancy and I literally spent a couple hours just looking through the ads.  I was tasked with getting a list of stores to visit and the items we are looking for.  We ended up going to bed a little after 10 PM.  Crazy huh?
 
The alarm sounded at 4:15 for me to get up and in the shower and we were pulling out of the garage at 5 on the dot.  We headed to Walmart first, followed by these stores: Best Buy, Staples, Fleet Farm, Sports Authority, Michael's, Kohl's, Shopko, Menards, Herberger's, Factory Card Outlet, then Hallmark.  We accomplished all of this by Noon!  I can't even begin to tell you what I got, but I will try, leaving out the few things I bought for Jeff, because he finds these e-mails interesting.  Small Crock pot, Stick Vac, Shredder, Tablemate little table, Candles, Jump Drive, 60 DVDs, Movies, Pasta Cooker, Batteries, Candles, Garden Flag, Elliptical Machine (mostly for Christmas from the Wiitanen's), Books, Cards, Candles, Washcloths, Games, Jewel Cases, and much more...oh but did I mention Candles???  We were whooped when we got home, so ate some lunch and took a nap.  We got up to go see Deja Vu at 4 PM with Denzel...really good, we liked it.  Then we picked up some Jimmy John's Subs...oooh...yummy!!!  Then watched the Red Wings game at the house.  I worked a little on journaling in my scrapbook during the game.  We all went to bed quite early again.
 
Got up a little early for a Saturday morning to go to Yoga with Nancy.  It was nice.  Then we had a nice breakfast, then went out to the mall and target to look at a few things.  We came back and took our daily nap.  Then we ate a Thanksgiving like dinner over again...just as wonderful the second time!  Then we played games for a little while, and around 7 we left to see our Lorie Line Concert.  It was really great, all the Christmas Songs you love.  My favorites were probably "O, Holy Night" and "Carol of the Bells."  It was a great show..thanks again Nancy and Glenn for that!  We played a couple games when we got home and went to bed fairly early.
 
Sunday morning, Jeff and I got up and ready and packed the car.  Amazingly enough, we were able to fit the elliptical machine in the back of the car, with only one smashed finger.  We had Breakfast with Nancy and Glenn and we got on our way.  We had good weather and no traffic until we started close to Grand Island.  Jeff drove the entire way, and I made good way on my Cross stitch.  After York, the roads got a little icy, so we slowed down quite a bit.  Then the first exit for GI, just after the traffic began.  We still don't know if there was an accident or what, but we did see police cars and such.  We got off the interstate and took the hwy. the rest of the way home.  We got home started laundry and putting all our purchases away.  A little after 8 we started putting together our elliptical machine.  It was fully assembled by 9:15, impressive I thought.  It looks good and Jeff is quite excited about it!  We tried to get to bed pretty early last night and felt like we got a ton done since getting home at 5:30 or so.
 
This morning, Jeff headed into work.  I think the roads are worse this morning.  I was slipping all over the place with just my 2-3 mile drive to work.  Oh well.
 
It will be a busy week getting ready for my huge day camp this weekend...where we will have 150 girls and around 100 parents.  Pretty big event.  I'm planning to make it to aerobics all week---I sure need it after all the food and pie from the weekend.  Then, we have Jeff's Christmas party on Friday.  We will take the afternoon off pretty much to head to Lincoln.  We will have fun attending a Hockey game, eating out and watching a live band at the bar.  They have hotel reservations for us Friday night, so I'll make it back there early and get up early to head back to GI, to be there by 8 am with our first session starting at 9 am.  Then Jeff will stay in Lincoln to pick up my mom at 11:27 am, and they'll head out to GI, and meet up with me at Camp.  I think we (Jeff, Mom, and the co-workers) will have a nice dinner out Saturday night.  Then Sunday we'll try for church and we will see the Singing Christmas Tree on Sunday night.
 
Well, that's all folks!  Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well, and warm wishes for everyone!
 
Gina :) and Jeff the Stuffed Turkey
2:26 AM 
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Sunday, November 19, 2006 
Short: Good week.  Jeff's been studying and getting ready for his test.  I've been busy getting ready for my Jingle Camp.  Ready for Thanksgiving.
 
Long:
 
Can't believe we'll be heading up to Jeff's folks in a matter of days now!  Should be great!
 
Well, our week wasn't all that eventful.  I've been working a little more than usual to have some days available when my mom comes out.  I made it to aerobics two days.  And I was busy during the day teaching Junior Achievement for an hour a day, and went to another school for a half hour to read, for Young Reader's Day.  So had my fair share of time in the schools this week.
 
Jeff was out of the office a few days this week.  I think things are slowing down for him a bit, which I'm sure he is enjoying
 
Friday night, I finished shopping  for a few things to get ready for my Jingle Camp on Dec. 2.  I had to wash out 100 mason jars for one of their gifts they will be making, so it looked like a carnival game minus the ping pong balls, as they were drying out on the counter tops.  We watched the red wings on Friday night after Jeff studied and I got back from my shopping.  We also tried a new chinese place.  It wasn't that bad.
 
Saturday, Jeff studied all morning.  I caught up on a few things around the house, then headed out to camp where Cathy, Joe and I decorated for Jingle Camp.  It looks pretty cute in the Lodge.  I got back, then Jeff and I headed out to use our free $10 at Kohl's, ate a quick dinner at Taco Bell...what a mess that place is!  And then we stopped by Hastings to pick up a couple movies, with the coupons we had.  We watched the Break-up last night, then tried watching SNL in bed, but just couldn't watch ludicrous host...yuck.  So switched over to the end of the hockey game, to watch the wings lose in a shoot out. 
 
This morning, Jeff and I both went to church.  It was on the fast plan, as we were out in 40 minutes.  Dad would have liked it.  Then we stopped by Walmart for some groceries, and Sam's for lunch (we didn't even have to pay...the Holiday sample were delicious and filled us up!) :)  So, that brings us to now.  Jeff is watching the Vikings game in which following, he will continue his last hours of studying.  I hope to get a little scrapbooking in here.  Then about 3:00 I need to start making my Grandmother's "Macoroni Pie" which us midwesterners probably refer to as homemade mac and cheese.  I got the recipe from her mid-week, along with others she freely gave to me :)  So I will make that for our TNT Thanksgiving dinner tonight at one of the couple's house.  Prior to that, I have youth group, where they are doing a make and take Christmas gift workshop.  That should be a load of fun!  So a busy night, but Jeff will be studying and not getting distracted and will stay home.
 
Tomorrow Jeff takes the test, and if he passes, he will only have one to go!  Let's all pray that's how it turns out.  Then for the week, we'll work full days Monday and Tuesday, and we'll probably leave early afternoon on Wednesday to head to the Wiitanen's.  The only things on the agenda, that I remember Jeff saying are: eating way too much, watching football, Nancy and I will do Yoga on Sat. morning and a Lorie Line concert Saturday night.  Sounds like a few nice days off and away!
 
That following week, we'll be cleaning, preparing for my mom's arrival and my Jingle Camp that Saturday the 2nd!  Should be fun!
 
Have a Happy Thanksgiving and wonderful week!
 
Many blessings,
 
Jeff and Gina :)
7:19 PM 
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Sunday, November 12, 2006 
Can you believe you are actually getting this on Sunday?  It seems like forever since that has happened.  Good hearing from all the Wiitanen/Lack/Whaley's this weekend!
 
Short:  Good week.  Work was fine, the days I had to go in, and Jeff was in the office all week.  We had a date on Sat. night which was fun and nothing too much planned for the week ahead!
 
Well, this week was pretty good.  Monday I had off, and I did something I rarely do....just lay on the couch all day long.  I had intentions of scrapbooking, etc., but just didn't feel like getting up.  It had been a full weekend.  I did get up for aerobics.  I also made a nice dinner so Jeff and I enjoyed that.  Jeff was in the office all week long.  We also played some skipbo...seems like awhile since we've played some games together.
 
Tuesday was back to work, mostly catching up on things from the weekend.  Then aerobics afterward, and we both headed to the polls to make a tough decision, which were the least corrupt. 
 
Wednesday I had off again, and I ran around getting new license plate stickers, trying to update my name on my passport (has to be within 1 year, otherwise you have to reapply...those stinkers, how was I suppose to know!), dry cleaning, then to the bank and mall.  I think I made out pretty well at Christopher & Banks.  They had one of those extreme discount times.  I got 18 items (to share with my mom and Nancy...not all for me!) for $48!  I was picking up capris and skirts for 98 cents...quite amazing, and the most expensive items for $4.99.  Amazing!  Then I headed home to get the cleaning done for the week.  Everything's crossed off my list, and Jeff hasn't started his yet, and it's all suppose to be done today.  I made Chicken Pot Pie for the first time, for dinner.
 
Thursday, back to work.  Then aerobics afterward.  I came home and ate quick and headed off to Key Club.  The kids are getting ready to go to Holiday Social.

Friday I worked in the morning.  Went to Kiwanis, home and took a nap, then back to work at 3:30 to help Cathy with some stuff.  We stayed until 6.  I came home and dinner was on my plate, but Jeff went ahead and ate.  The wings played at 6:30 so we watched that and I picked up my cross stitch piece that it's been months since I've touched.  We also watched Mission Impossible 3...not bad.
 
Saturday Jeff was up around 8 and began to study.  He studied until about Noon, then we got in the hot tub and then ready for the day.  We went to Sam's and Sears to check out exercise equipment that we are asking for Christmas.  Jeff about fell over when he saw the pricing of elliptical machines!  We came home and he attempted to study again but wasn't really into it, and I managed to write our Christmas newsletter.  Look how lengthy these e-mails are...can you imagine me trying to fit a whole year in a page to a page and a half.  I'm waiting to hear where Brian will take a job, and it should be complete.  Around 5:45 we headed to Valentino's so I could redeem my birthday gift, "date night."  The pizza buffet was terrific.  We then went to the mall, walked around for a few minutes and went to the movie, "Stranger than Fiction" which I thought was wonderful.  Jeff liked it too.  Then we came home and watch SNL in bed.
 
This morning Jeff studied, and I went to church.  Our Pastor had a hoarse voice so asked our young adult leader if he would fill in for her through the service as he walked in two minutes before church started.  Weirdness.  Then I went grocery shopping, and we made eggs and hash browns for brunch.  Jeff studied until about Noon and now is watching the Vikings game.
 
I'm starting to work on my Mexico pages, so that will be quite an undertaking.  Then I have youth group at 4, and then Jeff and I will go to Bible Study at 7.
 
We had some crazy weather this week.  We started with 50-60s on Mon. 70s on Tues and Thurs, 85 on Wed! and snow flurries and 30s on Friday!  Can't keep up with all of this!  Oh and things are back to good at work.  I got a little discouraged when I was looking at jobs in GI this weekend and the same membership job I used to do before May, at the boy scout council in town pays $13K more!  Ridiculous!  That made me sad, but other than that work is fine.
 
This week, I guess Jeff is out of the office M-W.  He plans to study for an hour or two every night.  Then I plan to work and do aerobics this week.  Not too much else.  Can't believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  Then next weekend is Jeff's last hurrah of studying for his audit section for the test and he takes it on Monday.
 
Well that's it.  I hope you have a wonderful week!
 
Gina :) and Jeff
7:17 PM 
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Monday, November 06, 2006 
Greetings from home on a Monday morning!  It was a crazy weekend, so nice to have a time to chill out!
 
Short version:  My camp and meeting I had this weekend went well.  Bush came on Sunday, so that was exciting for Grand Island.  Jeff ate dinner with Hans and JoLynn Friday night and studied the majority of the weekend.
 
Longer:
 
First I will say, the whole city of GI was going crazy, because it was announced that President Bush was going to be in town to promote the republican candidates on Sunday.
 
I think my last e-mail went through Wednesday, so I'll start with Thursday.  What a break huh?
 
Thursday Jeff was out of the office, and Tiffany and I at work were shopping and preparing for our PA training this weekend.  I missed aerobics since we ran over 5, but I "took" Jeff for a walk when I got home.  Then Friday I picked up some stuff we had forgotten the day before at Wal-mart, and also started shopping for my Jingle Camp, where they will make memory boards, a mix in a jar and a reindeer made from logs.  So I bought a ton of material---over $150 worth of the $1 kind, and mason jars.  That took a long time for them to cut all of that!  So we had to eat around 4:30 because the girls were coming at 5:30, so Tiffany, Cathy and I stopped at Wendy's.  We got seated and my phone rang, it was Hans and JoLynn wondering if Jeff and I wanted to go out to dinner.  I told her that I had a camp that evening, which was why I was all ready eating at 4:30 but to call Jeff.  So, they did, and Jeff and H & J went out to Fazoli's where Hans talked about the new job he got working in a bank across the street from his old one.  So we headed back to camp and greeted the girls as they came in.  We had lots of fun activities, songs and games to teach them so they may work well with the younger girls at future activities.
 
Saturday was very much of the same thing.  We really had a good time with the girls. 
 
Then Saturday night, we watched Porky's which I borrowed from Cathy.  Never seen that...kind of a weird one.  Then we went to bed.
 
Sunday we got up a dressed quick and headed to church.  I can not believe what the sermon was about.  Telling white lies is OK, as long as you are honoring God, and loving your neighbor.  I'll admit I tell white lies, and real lies sometimes, but I don't think either are OK.  I just walked out shaking my head.  Maybe it's OK, that we only seem to get to the church part every third week!  I learn so much more in bible study and fellowship with the TNT group.  So after church, we went grocery shopping and got my stuff for my Southeast Coast Bus Trip meeting.  I headed out to Camp taking South Locust so I could drive by the event center to see all the security for Bush.  There were protesters across the street and just police cars parked at every single store or gas station down the street.  It was just crazy!  I guy was driving by on his bike and knocked off by one of the police officers.  Security was high!  I continued driving out to camp, set up and got to meet most of the girls that I will be traveling with next summer for 2 weeks.  We had fun talking about the trip and such.  Jeff dropped off pizzas around 5:30, and was driving away from camp and saw Air Force One fly overhead so he thought that was pretty neat.  Then a leader in her daughters had left for a little bit, and I guess they went out to South Locust and watched the presidents brigade drive by and in his limo the windows weren't tinted, and he waved at her two little girls.  So just kind of a neat day for Central Nebraskans.  After the meeting Cathy and I cleaned up for awhile and then I ran over to TNT where we had game night.  The girls kicked butt in Taboo and the boys kicked butt in Scene It.  It was fun.  Then we came home and watched football and went to bed.
 
So I slept in this morning.  And I think I may get in the hot tub before I take a shower, and I don't know what I'll do today.  There's always scrapbooking to get done, but also should probably work on the plethora of thank you cards I have sitting around!  Never a dull moment for sure!  I'll go to Aerobics tonight though.
 
Then Tuesday I'll work and go to aerobics, Wednesday I'll have off again, and Thursday I'll work and have aerobics and Friday I'll work in the morning.  Jeff is in the office all this week, and plans to study hard again next weekend.  He takes the test on the 20th.
 
So I think that's about it, all the excitement is over and now it's nice to settle back down.
 
Until next time,
 
Gina and Jeff
7:15 PM 
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Wednesday, November 01, 2006 
Hey Everybody!  Can you believe it's really November??  Well, I have a few stories to tell you as to how we finished October off!  Are you ready?
 
Well, I got a ton of Scrapbooking done last Monday and Tuesday while off from the Omaha SAC Trip.  I was also tasked with getting a gift from our co-workers for our boss who has a birthday the day before mine.  So that took some time on Tuesday, trying to find something she likes.  Went to aerobics both Monday and Tuesday.
 
Wednesday was our day to celebrate at the office.  We had these great nachos for lunch at 'the library' and after wards we opened gifts.  The staff tricked me and gave me the terracotta pig bowl thing and potpourri.  Then later on they brought out a gift certificate to the mall for $25, which was very nice.  Then Cathy Cochnar, my volunteer lady extraordinaire, and her family gave me two rubber chickens, and a $15 Hobby Lobby Gift Card.  Very generous!  Wednesday night, without having aerobics, I was bound to begin writing on my scrapbook pages I created.  I got quite a few pages done, and Thursday I finished the writing up through Christmas, and called it quits at 3 am.  It was funny, because I only slept until 6:30 when my mom called, and stayed up through midnight, so I told Jeff that I loved my birthday sooo much, that I could only sleep for 3 hours of it!  I worked a half day, and Linda brought in Pumpkin Pie for our dessert which was nice.
 
Friday evening, I cleaned, got all my pages in my scrapbook and we were visited by three people from TNT to give birthday wishes.  Then we went to Red Lobster for dinner, had drinks and chicken strips, and had enough for 2 meals after wards for each of us!  We got home, I opened presents...thanks everyone you all were too generous!, then cleaned until 1 AM.  The house looked great!  And I was ready to sleep!  Oh, and Jeff called me in the morning to tell me he got pulled over for a headlight out and speeding and was given a what....warning of course.  The guy's been pulled over about 5 times and gotten off with a warning, never received a ticket!  It's weird because 3 years ago to the same day (easy to remember my birthday and all), I was pulled over because of the headlight out, and then 4 years prior, I got my one and only speeding ticket on Halloween.  We just shouldn't drive this time of year! :)
 
Saturday morning was perfect, I slept in until 10, poured chemicals into the hot tub, and started on my taco meat.  Pretty easy morning.  Tim came around Noon, and Jeff and he bet on all the college games (Jeff came out with $10 ahead) and people started arriving right at the start to the Husker game.  I'm sure the husker fans were surprised that they were evenly matched with non-Husker fans.  We had here on Saturday, Tim Lens, Matt and Sara Pearson, Jan Miller, Jen Brown, Joey Rotterdam, Sara Whaley, Matt Hanson and Brittney, Brett Malchow, Dan Meyer, Nick and Tracey Vrba.  We watched the Huskers lose while eating snacks and drinking slush.  Then I got them going right away on the scavenger hunt.  It was quite funny.  They had to complete tasks such as make a Human Pyramid in front of the Girl Scout office, stand at attention in front of Air Force Recruiting, stand with the Wal-Mart greeter, Pick your nose with the scarecrow in front of our house, etc.  And at each one of these tasks they had to take a picture, which I will send pics of our Oct. pics tonight.  If I remember, tomorrow, I'll send an attachment of our scavenger hunt.  It was quite funny, could easily entertain you over lunch! :)  So when they all got back they were winded and laughing.  I directed them to the taco bar that I had set up while they were gone for an hour and a half, and let me tell you the 7-8 lbs. of taco meat I cooked was gone quick!  Crazy!  Then following dinner we watched their pictures on our TV thanks to a cord we found during the week.  They were sooo funny, and again, 2/3 of them will be in the picture e-mail, still waiting to get Dan's e-mailed to me.
 
New paragraph, then we played a game where I melted candy bars in diapers and they had to use their 4 senses to figure out which different kinds they were.  It was funny to watch them eat out of a diaper.  Then we ate the wonderful cake Jeff bought me for my birthday....it was the coolest cake I had ever seen...I will attach a picture of it.  Then it was onto door prizes.  Everyone seemed to like the crazy things they received.  Funny again.  Then into the night, some of the guys played poker, and the girls and a few guys played the guitar and made up songs.  What a great way to celebrate my birthday! :)  Fun times.
 
Then, after the time change, 2 am or before it would have been 3 am, we all hit the rack.  There was around 10 people here to spend the night.  In the morning, Jeff and Tim enjoyed their last golfing day of the year, and the rest of us ate breakfast and chatted until just about everyone left.  Sara and Joey stayed on a while to do our ear candles.  We got more out this time I think.  Those crazy things!  They left around 2:15 pm, and I got ready quickly to get to cookie training.  I wore my cute little "get fit" clothes based on the cookie theme, to get there and find out they wanted me to wear a cookie costume.  With my little shorts, not showing under the costume, it looked like I had no pants, which the leaders then named me "Sponge Bob No Pants."  Meanwhile, in my costume, I came up with a song to the theme of "I like big butts"  Ready?  "I like thin mints and I can not lie, all the other cookies can't deny.  I get in this place, I stuff 'em in my face, and then I gotta go to the Y"  I ended up singing that to the 50 people there too.  So kind of a fun training.  I left in the dark at 6:30 and went home quickly to change and then Jeff and I went to TNT, where we watched the movie, "Signs."  Ok, we made it through the weekend...wohoo!
 
So I will quickly try to tell you about our week so far, lessening the load for Sunday.  So we went to work as usual on Monday.  I did feel a little sick in the mornings...headache, I think with the weather change.  Then Tuesday was Halloween and Jeff got all dressed up as Flava Flave and I took a picture.  He said that a guy at work almost choked on a donut when he walked through the door in his costume.  They all seemed to get a kick out of it!  So glad he went in with a costume.  I went in scrubs and was not a nurse, or doctor, but brain surgeon of course.  I have lots of cute, skirt and dress costumes, but I knew I would be standing outside to get peanuts delivered and didn't want to freeze so went with something that would cover my legs.  All was well, and we came home and hung out to have 4 trick-or-treaters.  2 teenagers, a little boy, and Carsten, a child of our TNT friends, who was a clown and he's almost 3...it was soooo cute!  We watched "Click" late into the evening.  What a good movie.
 
Then today was fairly uneventful.  I got Jeff's headlight changed and went by Hobby Lobby for a little birthday shopping and to restock some scrapbook supplies after I worked so hard the last few weeks. 
 
OK, so as for the rest of the week, Work tomorrow and Friday.  Jeff plans to study all weekend as he takes another part in a few weeks.  I have PA training from 5 on Friday until 5 on Saturday, then I have my first meeting for the SE Coast bus trip all of Sunday afternoon and into the evening.  I plan to take a few days off next week to compensate for it.
 
I do have to say thank you for putting up with these things because when I was writing in my scrapbook it was most helpful to look back at these to determine dates, activities, etc. just as if it were a journal.  So thanks for your patience, like I've said, it's cheaper than seeing a shrink...good therapy! :)
 
Have a great rest of the week and enjoy the pics :)
 
1) Flava Flave and New York
2) My birthday cake
6:14 PM 
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