We're Back In Milton!!

I've got Miguel and Lacey with me until Saturday or Sunday. We've been trying to have fun but I got this stupid cold that is wiping me out! It's ruining our vacation fun!

Vacatiaon Diary: Day 6

MERRY CHRISTMAS YA'LL!!

We laid around all day. It's snowing up here and I was hoping to go home tomorrow, but Joey said he didn't want us to leave just yet. I want to bring Miguel home but Joey doesn't want Miguel to be gone for so long.

On another note, Lacey, my twelve-year-old sister, made the mistake of falling asleep way before the rest of us last night, so me, the big sister, had to mess with her. You HAVE to watch this video, it is HILARIOUS...me smacking Lacey in the face while she's sleeping!!!



Merry Christmas everyone and thank you Lacey for the good times!!!

Vacation Diary: Days 2, 3, 4 and 5

Phew, Monday and Tuesday are over, spent all day working on my master's thesis. Woke up Monday, headed over to St. Kate's, spent all day on the thesis. Didn't get it done, they kicked me off campus because they closed at six pm. Went over to Kinko's to try to finish it and print, only to find out that Kinko's charges .49 cents per page to print, which, at 80 pages times two copies of the paper that I needed to print, would have cost me $75 dollars just to print! So I gave up, left Kinko's, went home, trie again on Tuesday. Went to St. Kate's and worked some more, but found out that St. Kate's now charges to print as well, even though they never used to. However, they only charge .10 cents per page which is a HUGE drop from .50 cents. Sadly, printing at St. Kate's was not going to be as easy as I thought, since I was not a student, they would not let me print. I was going to have to actually drive over to Hamline to print. But alas! One of my students at St. Kate's offered to let me print my paper on her print account! Since the semester was over, she let me know that she had a huge print balance on her account and let me use it! Thanks so much for that Becky!!!!

So, the moral of the story is, I got the paper done at 5:30 Tuesday night. Went off to Benihaha to have dinner with my beautiful friend Ania. Here we are:



Ania was a fellow student at St. Kate's and we graduated together.

Wednesday was a lazy day for me and the boys. I was supposed to go visit my pal Yobe, but I was too tired, and the snow was on the weather radar to be heading our way. So I laid around all day with my little buddies.

Today is Christmas Eve and we are relaxing together. My mom is here with Lacey. Pa Chia is home and my dad just ran off to get some McDonald's. We're hanging out today again. I went out and shoveled the walk for my brother, who went to work for a little bit today. Ooops, my car is running outside. I had Lacey go out and stick my cell phone in there, it was out of juice. I better have Lacey run back out and get it!!!!

Here's a video of my little buddy Manny giving me a full body massage. These boys are just so adorable, Sam better be HAPPY that he stole me away from them!!!



Today was the day that the boys got their hair cuts. Here is Manny, he's got the old man haircut:



And here is Gabe, he's got a mowhawk and he's really mad about posing for the camera. This picture seriously CRACKS me up:




Stay tuned. It's Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas! We'll have more action for you tomorrow!! .

Vacation Diary: Day 1

Hello to all of my fellow blog followers!!! I am now sitting at my lovely brother's house in Minnesota. Sadly, the boys are not here, my brother needs to go get them from my mom's house.

How did my first day of vacation go? Well great, thank you for asking!! I left my house down in Milton at about 1:30 on Saturday and went straight up to St. Croix Falls to celebrate my cousin Mindi's 30th birthday. My wonderful cousins Tonia came up from Iowa and Heather came up from Stillwater, Minnesota to hang out with us. Here we all are:



From left to right: Lacey is my cousin Mindi's step sister. Tonia is my cousin. Kayla is Mindi's little sister from another marriage. Then me. Heather is my cousin and Aunt Val is Mindi's mom (Mindi's dad is my mom's brother). Teehee!

And here we getting ready for some fun...



And here we are at the end of the night:



That concludes our Saturday night evening and Mindi's 30th birthday shindig. I am now hanging out at my brother's house waiting for my little buddies to come home.

Happy birthday Minders!!!

I Completely Forgot to Tell you About my Family Drama....

Remember my little sister Jewel? Born on my 13th birthday? She is now 19. She joined the Air Force in May, graduated from their boot camp in July. We secretly found out that she went off and married some guy that she was dating for only a month. She avoided telling us but I guess the guy she married, Scott, his mom sent Jewel's mom a message about it on Facebook. Needless to say, we were not happy. Then a month later, she decides she wants to annul the marriage. That was a few months ago. Now...the guy she is dating or "involved" in right now, is a guy she dumped before for doing crack. I'm so confused! She's going back to a guy who is doing crack?

Sigh sigh...I remember being 19, but I sure would have never married a guy after dating him for a month, nor would I have ever dated a crack head. And me being the strong willed woman that I am, I cannot keep my thoughts to myself. Booo, my sister has a screw loose, and she doesn't want to talk to me anymore because I told her that she was too good and beautiful to date a crack head!!!! There's nothing else I can do...oh well....at least I'll officially be on vacation in a matter of moments!

December Fun...

Well, it's been a week and a half since I last posted. Last week was kind of a hectic week. We had a huge snow storm that started last Tuesday afternoon and lasted until Wednesday evening. Last week Sam left our home around 2pm Tuesday and I didn't see him again until Thursday night. There was a point where I couldn't get a hold of him and I was beginning to get scared! But he apparently was removing snow for 36 hours straight. Broke a new record at his company for the longest shift worked. Sadly, he came home Thursday night and went right to sleep and Friday had to go to work again. Needless to say, he got a lot of overtime in this week!!

I went out and took pics of our driveway during the snow storm. Try to see if you can find my car somewhere in there:



I was able to stay home from work on Wednesday, which is why I really like my job. Hung out all day with little Lucy, who I have to say, is one insane kitty. Here she is relaxing amongst all of the presents under the tree...



And here she is this morning, we woke to find her little "playground" all lopsided. Wow, she really just can't help herself. I mean come on, look at the red blanket flipped all over the place. I'm surprised that she hasn't opened any of the presents! You HAVE to click on this pic to enlarge it, it's just too funny...



Surprisingly as well, she has NOT knocked the tree over since that first time. I think the loud thud it made might have scared her. Thursday night I was making Christmas cookies for a cookie exchange that I was going to on Friday, and little Lucy decided that she was going to jump on the counter right onto a raw cookie that was waiting to be baked. She left her paw print on the cookie! So cute! Here it is...

Random Pics....

Here is my nephew Manny as a newborn...



And here he is earlier this year, how he has grown! (he's the little one on the farthest to the left)

It's December Already??

Wow, I can't believe it. I had my long vacation last week and I'm sad to be back to work. Boooo....

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Sam's aunt's house. Met some friends out the night before, that was a great time. Sam did some hunting again this weekend but didn't see much. I hung around the house and painted some Christmas signs. You would be able to see them on my online store but I haven't put them up yet. Spent most of Friday putting up the Christmas decorations. I went out looking for some wreaths, but they are super expensive, so instead, I bought a fake one for $5 and some ribbon for $5 and a few novelty decorations for about 65 cents each, and made my own wreaths. We also put up the Christmas tree but it seems our kitty cat likes it too, as I awoke yesterday to find the tree knocked over! I should have taken a pic of it but I was just too shocked! I am 99% sure that she'll knock it over again, so I'll try to remember to take a pic.

So now we have owned our house for a year now. We really didn't move in until last January, but we've owned it for a year. I'll do one of those videos walking around my house like I did last year. This time, there'll be furniture in the house! Stay tuned!

La Loquita Lucy

Thus ends and begins another week in the Clapper household. Gun hunting season started yesterday, but actually, I enjoy the time to myself that I have been getting. I have been doing some painting, reading and working on my thesis. Sam doesn't actually go away anywhere, he just goes out until dark and comes home.

On the feline side of things, we have the goofiest cat that I can remember ever encountering. She likes to hop up into the TV stand and take naps behind the DVD's. Here she is...




She also enjoys running around the house like a banshee, attacking and biting my legs, stealing things and playing with them, drinking water out of the sink and fall off things. She's a delight.

I'm super excited about Thanksgiving coming up this week too. I have to work on Monday and Tuesday only, and on the 26th, we'll have owned our house for exactly one year!! This Christmas we get to put up our tree and Holiday decorations. I'm super excited!!!

New Travel Plans!!!!

So it's official, Sam and I are going to Guyana in April with my BFF Yolanda Benjamin Lewis. She is originally from Guyana and we are going with her and her hubby Dexter to stay with some family. We are also planning a stop in Brazil, woot woot!

Just in case you didn't know where Guyana was, here is a nice map:


View Larger Map

Can't wait! We are getting our tickets in January, and I'm super excited to be visiting South America with my hubby! I was always the type of person to wish that my lovey was with me when I visited a new place, so I'm glad that Sam will be there. Here are Yolanda and I. I call her Yobe:



She's the best BFF that a gal could have...

Translation:

Una Canción: A song

The online translators do not work at all.

Voy a dejar que mi guitarra diga todo lo que yo no sé decir por me, o quizás deba a esperer que el insulto del reloj, acaba de planear mi fin...

Means:

I am going to let my guitar say everything that I don't know how to say for myself, or maybe I should wait for the clock's insult, it just planned my end.

Let's thank Shakira for her wondrous poetic lyrics.

Una Cancion...

Voy a dejar...que mi guitarra diga todo lo que yo...no se decir por mi...
O quizas deba a esperar...que el insulto del reloj...acaba de planear mi fin...

¿Que dia es hoy?

November 9th? I'm heading up to Minnesota today for a thing I have to do tomorrow at UW-Stout. So much excitement. Sam had the swine flu, but apparently I am immune to the flu because I never got it. Come to think of it, I don't remember ever having the flu. Interesting...

It's Halloweeny Time!!

Hey ya'll...

I don't have any fresh pics for you, but I thought I'd update my few followers on what we've been up to. For starters, not much. It's the last day of October, and, well, let's see....Sam's gone hunting all month. I have been hanging out and doing homework. Ummmmm...I had to go to Milwaukee for a few days this week, that sucked donkey poop. Oohh OOH! We got a new TV...that's pretty awesome since I'm a huge movie buff. Yeah, great TV.

What else? It's my first Halloween to pass out candy, and I only had my doorbell ring about six times. Boooo...I live on a dead end street and everyone was too lazy to walk up to my house. All of these previous years I've been going trick-or-treating with either my sisters or my nephews. I didn't have the energy to drive up to Minnesota to go trick-or-treating this year. Aw...but I think I have pics of the boys's costumes:





So yeah...that's about it...just working and picking our butts I suppose. Haha!

Samalucha...

Sammy went up north to his buddy Josh's cabin a few weeks ago, so I thought I'd add the pics...

Here he is dancing...


And some more dancing...


And being sexy with his friends...



Don't they all look so tough...



And I think this guy might be trying to give him a smoochie...



Hanging out at the cabin...



Trying to light his farts on fire (and I don't think he would approve of me posting this one, but it's funny and he never looks at our blog anyway)...



Relaxing with Josh and Josh's new baby girl Elliana...



And being the natural Sam that he is...



Awww, and they actually tried for this photo!

These are Those...

In an attempt to follow Theophrastus of Eressos:

This is the Bad Mother

A bad mother is one who gives birth at a young age and and later forgets about her motherly duties. She acknowledges her children and refuses to give them to good homes, yet she plays hard with her friends, leaving to drink at the taverns and bars and to sleep around with random men while her children stay at home. She will leave her children with relatives and not come back until the next morning, knowing that her children cry for her embrace in the night. She will allow her friends to come and go into the household, bringing prostitutes and Johns and drugs and things to smoke, her children will know their first swearwords from this mother. She will allow men to treat her children in inappropriate manners and when confronted, she will deny any inappropriateness and possibly receive payment for this inappropriateness. She will beat her children to death or allow others to beat them or give them drugs and alcohol. She will not teach her children the word 'respect' or ‘happiness’ or 'courage.' She will allow her children to grow up wondering who they are, where they came from, what about them is so horrible and why they are so afraid. She will drink and wallow in filth and scream at her children for doing things that they were never taught not to do, and she will only care about herself until she is old, beat and alone, finally reaching out to her children not because she is sorry and has changed, but because she hates her solitude.

This is the Back Stabbing Friend

She will befriend you to know all of your secrets, your strengths and weaknesses. She will use you as she sees fit and make you feel as if you are important in her heart. She will laugh about you with others and when confronted, blame everyone else. She will at the right moment, find the way to hurt you deeply by spilling your precious secrets, your small weaknesses or your biggest mistakes, only to laugh at you in the process and claim that she was never your friend. She will accuse you of making the mistakes while she laughs with the others, leaving you hurt and wondering why you were such a bad person.

This is the Idiot

An idiot can be a bad mother or a bad friend or a person you meet on the street. This is the kind of person who swerves into your lane and doesn’t apologize, for watching you walk out a door with full hands and not offering to hold the door open. This is the person who watches you drop your groceries while they keep walking, who sees you fall in the street and laughs as they continue past. They do not know you but pretend to know you well, and they assume that they are clairvoyant by telling others what you yourself are thinking. An idiot refuses to see the world in any person’s perspective other than their own, and they will most likely try to hurt you before they will concede to you. In fact, an idiot claims to know what every person is thinking, and they will be happy to go around giving their opinions about why so and so is upset today or why this person is happy and what you are thinking in your own quiet mind, all the while laughing at you as you try to pick yourself up off the ground.

This is the Fool

The fool will love any of the above still, no matter what.

We'll Henna you in Your Face!!

Just kidding, we won't, but Lacey and I went and got some henna done at the Minnesota State Fair. Yes, I'm from Minnesota, that's right. I was stolen from my homeland by a bald Wisconsin White boy...but more on that later...

What has the married life been like? Same. Sam hasn't gotten his wedding ring yet because he's been so busy working 10 hour days and getting ready for his big trip. He left last night to drive to Colorado to hunt elk with three buddies. He will not be back for a week from tomorrow! What am I to do with myself? What have we been up to since you last saw us? Wait, hold on, my nails are too long and they're driving me nuts while I'm trying to type....

Ok, got them trimmed. Can't type with long nails. Anyway...made a trip back up to Minnesota last weekend to hang out with my mom and Lacey. It seems my brother Joey had won a trip to Hawaii from work and he and his wife Pa Chia were out there vacationing. I hung out with Lacey the whole weekend, we painted, we monkeyed around. I took her to the Minnesota State Fair with me to see my pal Tracy perform in her horse troope. Sadly, we couldn't find Tracy amidst the millions of riders and horses, and no one knew where she was. So, Lacey and I only walked around the fair for a few hours and stopped and got some henna tattoos:




That was fun, but we were dorks and pulled the drying henna off our skin before it was time, and now the tattoos are already faded. Dorks. Yes, we, the dorks are proud of our dorkiness.

What other pics do I have for you?? Here's a nice one of Sam and Richie hanging out at the good ole' Junction Pub. I'm a little hesitant to talk about all of my hang out spots on here because apparently the ex-husband's new girl has her family spying on us. Yeah, her name is Madelyn Nygren. For a fun time, e-mail madelyn.nygren@gmail.com. Apparently she likes to steal other people's husbands and then stalk these guys's ex-wives? I really wish she would leave me alone.......Anyways, here's Sam and Richie, this is a great pic...


Oh, and another funny story, Sam and I were driving into work last week and a bird flew right into the front of our car. We thought it was pretty hilarious and just kept on driving. I dropped Sam off and went to work. At the end of the day, I went to pick him up and we drove the 30 miles home only to find a nice treat in the grill of our car. Oh the laughs, the laughs. Since Sam and I find the stupidest things funny, this one was no different....


Poor bird.

Hey YOU from Roscoe, Illinois

Yeah, I'm talking to YOU. You either live in Roscoe or a neighboring city of Roscoe. I was in your ugly town the other day, and I saw YOU spying on me. I'm so glad that I could be the light of your day as well as your family's! I hope you're entertained by my little life, and if not, oh well! Enjoy yours loser!

So I Married the Clap...

Yes, I finally got the Clap to marry me...somehow! Haha!! Nah, he was the sweetest groom on our day: August 28th. He likes to pretend that he's tough but really he's a sweetie. I added our fancy pics to my pic site: www.aimtoothpaste.shutterfly.com. Or click on the link over on the right under 'My Links.'

What more can I say? It was a beautiful day and I'm so very happy. It's my birthday today, and Sammy is the best gift that I could get...

These are my fave pics of the day:

Pics...

I've added new pics to our pic site. Check them out...

www.aimtoothpaste.shutterfly.com

Let's Update You All on Sam...

CLICK ON A PIC TO ENLARGE IT!!

Yes, this is my blog, and Sam does not read it at all. I could say that he stinks like a baboon or that he chews so loud that the force of the suction he creates sucks in all of the breathing air around him.

Ha! Just in case you didn't know, Sam is working as an account manager at a landscaping company in Madison. We do drive to work together, but it drives me nuts, yet saves on gas. He's been super busy all summer, as the home we have bought together is his first home. He is an extreme perfectionist, which means everything he does gets done right the first time, and there is no slacking on getting things done (yes, I like to slack but it's a little hard with Sam around). Soooo, remember pics of the house before we moved in? Here is the pic from the realtor site just to remind you:


And here are pics of the newly done landscaping, mostly done by Sam with a little help from me once in a while...







And yes, we are working on building a paver patio in the back yard. However, because we are doing it by hand, it is taking forever. Here's what our back yard looked like last week, and let me tell you, it's not any different right now:


And not only has this been Sam's spring and summer commitment all year, but he's also worked on re-tiling our laundry room; repainting the whole house, adding trim to some rooms in the house, building storage shelves in our garage as well as our basement. I think that's about it....maybe.

Ok, that should be enough to keep you satisfied for now. Stay tuned for pics of Sammy flying in the air. He's getting super excited that bow hunting season is coming up and he's trying hard to get this patio done by then so he can have some free time to go hunting. I'm not too worried about it. We can easily finish the patio in the spring. It's not going to do us any good during the winter anyway. Hah!