I'm Going Home...

Well, to my university's homecoming that is.

It was last month and I decided that since it's already been 5 years since I graduated and I haven't really been back there since, why not?

We drove the 30 miles over in the late morning. I took the back roads for nostalgic reasons. It was fun driving past all our old favorite just off campus places.

First thing we did on campus was check out the remodeled Cole Hall.

For those that don't know, Cole Hall is the building where the 2008 Valentine's Day shooting occurred (I've mentioned it on Valentine's Day every year since). On the main floor, the building consisted of 2 big auditoriums used mainly for Gen-Ed lectures that the majority of students took during their time at NIU, as well as housed a small anthropology museum. Thanks to the voices of students, alumni and others, they made the decision not to tear down the building like originally planned and instead sent out a survey as to what should be done. The result was a remodel. The outside and front/main hallway got a total facelift, the auditorium where the shooting occurred got split, part of it now being a smart classroom while the anthropology museum expanded into the other part. The other auditorium got a facelift as well so it no longer resembles the old one. Pretty neat.

Gotta admit though, I got chills and started to choke up a little just walking through that building again. I had several classes in that damned auditorium during my time there. It was a tad emotional.

After that visit, we headed over to the Alumni and Visitors Center and proceeded to the Alumni Village area behind it where they had various tents for each college at the university where you could eat free food. Since I was an Art major, we went to the Visual and Performing Arts tent. Can't say I knew a single person there. After we ate lunch we went in search of the school's newspaper tailgating tent, since most of the people I knew during my time at school, outside my art classes, were the newspaper staff. Sadly though, this being the 1st year with a new adviser in years, there apparently wasn't one! Which sucks as I knew some of my fellow newspaper staff people were th

ere... somewhere.

New building in the end zone!

We did get tickets to the game though, where we were up by A LOT at halftime (which is when we

left as Jay couldn't sit through an entire 3 hour football game). There was a lot of changes though - at the one end of field is a new field house that I had no idea existed. You could also the new high-tech residence hall from the stadium. I got myself a new t-shirt, as well as one for Jay to grow into.

After we left the game, I ran into a few of my fellow newspaper peeps - the gal that was editor-in-chief the semester I started as well as 2 guys that I worked on staff with for a few years. It was nice catching up with them!

Jay hamming it up at the football game
with mommy and his plastic Geico gecko
(you can see the plain backside of it)

From there we took a drive around campus and then went to our favorite local dinner, just off

campus.

Then we drove over to the theater so I could harass my bestest buddy from my time there. Sadly, the last of the kids I worked with on staff had just left not too long ago, aside from one that is now management and left before I got there.

If anything, this trip made me realize how much I miss DeKalb and my time in college... we really did have too much fun in college!

Funny story though - at the Alumni and Visitors Center, Geico had a booth and they handed out pompoms with a plastic Geico gecko as the handle. Well, ours immediately broke off so we gave it to Jay to play with... Little Man clung to that plastic gecko alllllll day, lol...

Life Lately

Hey there!

Remember me???

Yeah... I kinda fell off the face of Blogland for awhile... it's been crazy, busy, stressful and chaotic around these here parts lately.

Here's what I've been up to the last few weeks:

I dyed my hair red...

Although the 1st time we put box color on it, well, it only took at my roots and various patches around my hair. We put other stuff on it but it still wasn't great, but acceptable to go to work with the next day and then I had to go to my family's hairstylist to get it fixed. I was going for brown with reddish tones to it but yeah... it's a tad too red for my liking. Oh well, it'll fade.

I went to my 10 year high school reunion. Just typing that makes me feel old. My graduating class had like 54 in it, 12 showed up, most with spouses or dates. That's not too bad... it was definitely interesting as we started out with half a room, that filled up with people eating dinner and then a Soul band started playing and we got pushed out to the lobby so we could hear each other. Some people were amusing, showing up to compete for most successful only to learn that most of us are pretty down to earth with regular ol' jobs, married and have young kids. One guy in my class is a millionaire already, being the co-founder of a health and fitness company and does motivational speaking for USANA and has been on Dr. Phil. Another guy was nominated for an Emmy for journalism broadcasting. We have quite a handful of successful people in our class actually... one guy I spoke with though seemed a bit sadden that he was still a bachelor with no kids and felt like he was in the minority.

I saw one of my favorite bands - Static-X - live for the 4th time, at a smaller bar downtown here. It was so small that I was literally within arms reach of the bassist the entire time they were on stage and was within 10-20ft of frontman Wayne Static the entire time too. The band geared up right next to us too - we were sectioned off by their equipment boxes. It was AWESOME to be THAT CLOSE to one of my favorite bands. I also caught the drumstick at the end - while having my hand out to fist bump Wayne as he walked past on his way off the stage the drumstick landed right in my reach and I caught it with my other hand. Some dude and his gf were grabbing onto it and pulling though so I pulled my fist away from Wayne just as he was about to walk by so I'd have both hands on it - they weren't taking it from me. Hubby got decked in the mouth by the chick that was rockin' out next to me the whole time though. The next morning my photo of the band gearing up next to us got retweeted by the band on Twitter, as did hubby's tweet about how he was bleeding, sore and now deaf after going to the show, lol... so cool! I've always seen them before at the House of Blues in Chicago so this was quite a different experience seeing them in a smaller venue and being able to be that close to them. I was right down front and the crowd, being older, didn't get too out of control so I was able to rock out without having to worry about getting crushed by people or having moshers thrown into me (a mosh pit broke out a few times but security got it under control quickly). I'll definitely be seeing more bands there in the future if it means I can be that close to them!

We went to the nearby apple orchard for the 1st time this season. It was fun - we let Jay lead the way in the wire fence maze... yeah, don't recommend that! He'd get to a dead end and come halfway back only to stop and pick up rocks and dirt and mulch, lol... We got his annual measurement there though - he's grown half a foot since last year according to the chart.

Jay has started throwing tantrums left and right now too - welcome to the terrible 2s! Last week we were watching The Office instead of his shows on Sprout, so he threw a tantrum the entire 30 minutes it was on - thrashing and rolling around on the floor, kicking and throwing his toys, screaming, crying... the works! The second it was over and we put Sprout back on he was completely fine and smiley again. That stinker!

Hubby got a seasonal job with Best Buy Mobile! We were on our way out to the apple orchard when he got a call about an interview so we turned the car around, he ran in to change and Jay napped in the car while I waited for him during his interview. It went really well as they hired him on the spot and he starts orientation this weekend. It's only seasonal for now, but we'll see how it goes, maybe they'll keep him on after the holidays!

And that's pretty much the excitement we've had around here, aside from the stress of my father-in-law still living with us and basically trashing the house as he goes as he doesn't pick up after himself (we're sooooo tired and fed up with it - I'm about ready to move back in with my parents until he's gone, cept I really don't want to rock Jay's world anymore than it already has been. I don't really know what to do anymore, I'm on the verge of losing it).

Jay's Day Out with Thomas!

Yesterday (Sunday) we took Jay to meet Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt!

HiT Entertainment with MegaBlocks held the annual event again
this year at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL which is roughly about a 45 minute drive from us. I had first heard about it a few years ago when hubby's brother and sister-in-law took our oldest nephew to it as, like Jay, he's loved Thomas for years. This was the first weekend for it this year as it continues next Saturday and Sunday. They had a bunch of different booths and stations set up around the railway museum grounds - a Thomas merchandise tent, a local firefighter booth, a tent to watch some Thomas videos or hear stories, mini-putting greens, and a tent to get temporary Thomas and Friends tattoos! You could also get your picture taken with Thomas between train rides (yep - you could purchase tickets to go for a "ride" on train cars pulled by Thomas) as well as pictures with Sir Topham Hatt. It was really neat!

 As we pulled up to the railway museum grounds we got stopped at the train tracks that go around the parking lot and lo and behold - there was Thomas going past us! Jay got the biggest grin and made a face like "Oh yeah, that's Thomas, that's my pal."

 Thomas at the station, between train rides

 Jay didn't want to take his eyes off him!

 Daddy, Jay and Thomas

 Mommy, Jay and Thomas

 Riding on a train car pulled by Thomas

Jay was doing good until the family sitting in front of us pulled out their brand new Thomas toys, opened them up and proceeded to play around with them. Naturally, Jay being a toddler, he wanted them so we had to struggle with him for a good bit to keep him from diving over the seat to get at the toys (he had his own Thomas train toy with him but he wanted theirs!). He also wanted crackers during the train ride after they had told us no food or drink on the train.

 There's Thomas coming down the tracks!

 Jay got Thomas and Percy temporary tattoos on his hands and just like last week at the fair when he got a Jolly Green Giant one, he promptly proceeded to rub at them, lol...

 He couldn't believe it was Sir Topham Hatt! He didn't want to take his eyes off him!

 Sir Topham Hatt, Jay and Daddy

 Jay started touching him, lol...

 He started babbling nonstop to Sir Topham Hatt, it was really funny!

  Sir Topham Hatt, Jay and Mommy

 Thomas running down the line

Processing the events of the day

 And he fell asleep on the car ride home

 Jay's loot - we got him the reusable Day Out with Thomas bag and this year's annual wooden train car (a Quarry car) to go with the set we plan on collecting when he gets a little bigger. He also got a certificate after going for a ride on Thomas that makes him a Junior Engineer!

This year's annual wooden train car... which I already found in the dog's water dish this evening!

Jay had a great time with a huge grin on his face for the majority of the time we were there. We definitely plan on taking him again in a few years when he's a bit older! If you have a tike who loves Thomas and you're interested, be sure to check out the official Day Out with Thomas site to see if Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt are coming to a railway museum near you!

And because today is  Monday, here's the only other photo I took this week:

Hubby's sis turns 14 next month, however she's huge into the Hunger Games and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I was going to take her to the midnight DVD release of Hunger Games at Walmart however her and her dad took a spur of the moment trip down to Springfield for a few days and weren't back in time so I went with my sister and got it for her (I had to do some grocery shopping after work while there anyway). This was the setup we had waiting for her on the kitchen table when she got back into town. We got her the 2-disc Walmart set which included trading cards (she got Effie Trinket!) and a Mockingjay pendant and we also got her a Twilight Sparkle plushie. We figured we'd give it to her a month or so early that way she wouldn't go out and buy the movie before then (we know she's been dying to watch it again!). She loved her gifts and we're glad =)

Update!

Just realized I haven't posted much lately...

We've been keeping busy though!

Since hubby lost his day job I've been busy picking up extra hours at work wherever I can, averaging now 20-30 hours a week instead of my usual 12-15.

We went to the fair this past weekend - next weekend we're going to Day Out with Thomas in Union, IL.

My father-in-law and sister-in-law are still staying with us. They recently went to sign/fill-out paperwork regarding a home equity loan so hopefully we hear some good news from that soon so they can get a home of their own here in town while we wait for their property out in the country to sell.

My sister-in-law got to go to a sleepover last weekend though, which was really neat as before all this, with them living over an hour away in the country, she never got to get together with her friends and do things like that (actually, prior to this past year, she never really had a lot of friends her age, as they were so far away for her to really get to do much with them outside of church - being in junior high youth group this past year though she's gotten more opportunities to be involved). I picked her up Saturday morning and we stopped by Toys R Us on our way home as it was the last day for their BOGO free Crayola sale and I wanted to get some markers for Jay - she went nuts over the Hunger Games stuff they have there, it was quite amusing! And then she showed me all the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic stuff they have there too - definitely gave me some ideas for her upcoming birthday present! It's been nice getting to chat and hang around with her a little more - last week my father-in-law had *the worst* panic attack he's had while here (he has them most nights) and my sister-in-law had to get up and help calm him down... we stayed up and chatted for a few hours til hubby came home from his night job (now his only job).

Hubby's still looking for another day job - part-time, full-time... anything really. Considering what he was taking out of his paychecks and what we were putting in savings, really there's only about $1100 we need to make up for... if I'm able to keep getting 20-30 hours a week at work I can make up the bulk of that but we'll still be a little short... hubby's started donating plasma again as of last week so that's an extra $50/wk there... things are just going to be real tight for awhile though until he finds something to help make up for the remainder of what was lost (like I've said previously though, we have enough to be okay for a good month or 2 so we have some time til it hits us). Ideally though, we *really* hope hubby can go full-time at UPS (his night job) sometime soon - he's been in the running for it for years now, but the process is so long and drawn out... he's at the step in the process where he's basically waiting on them.

In other news... I'm going to be an aunt again! My sister and brother-in-law announced last week that she's pregnant! They're estimating late-March or early-May. Originally they had talked about waiting a few years, til she was like 22 and he was a little more settled with Navy stuff, but I guess they talked and right now he's stationed at Great Lakes for at least another year and a half so they thought it made more sense to go ahead and start now, that way they'll be around the area and not too far from family and he won't be deployed anywhere quite soon either so he'll be around to help out as well. Plus they thought it would be neat for Jay to have a cousin, nearby (for now) somewhat close in age (they'll be about 2 years apart). I've already started an Amazon list of what I want to get them - a lot of it is stuff we ended up using a lot with Jay but hadn't planned on getting originally!

I got all of Jay's fall clothing bought - he's got plenty of short sleeves and long sleeves shirts, several pairs of pants, 2 pairs of sneakers and 1 pair of dress shoes, a few dressier shirts and a pair of khaki's and a new Thomas hoodie as his other one he had last spring is getting a bit small on him. Most of this stuff he can wear into winter as he's currently in a 24 month top and we bought it all 2T.

Currently I'm about to finish the 1st season of Gossip Girl (ya'll talking about it in Blogland & Twitter got me interested!) and hubby and I are almost done with the 2nd season of Breaking Bad - the "Better Call Saul" episode (the first episode with the Saul Goodman character) had us cracking up! We also watched the new season of Dallas on TNT and were hooked... OMG about Rebecca! Can't wait to see how that plays out, as I found her character a bit annoying until this last episode when the truth about her was revealed... fortunately the next season starts in January so we don't have to wait til next summer!

What have you been up?

Fun at the Fair

This past season one of the 2 local county fairs happened and we took Jay! If you remember, last year was his 1st time at the fair. He was only about 6 months old so we didn't do much aside from push him around, take him in the petting zoo and let him try some ice cream. This year he was a bit more into it.

Hubby took Jay around the petting zoo, where they attempted to pet a goat (Jay was more interested in opening and closing the petting zoo gates!)

 I got my annual ear of sweet corn. There's 3 things I get at the fair every year: baked potato with toppings from the Boy Scouts, an ear of sweet corn, and some ice cream from the Merry Milk Maids.

The Dish Network booth was free passing balloons out to all the kids so we got one for Jay and tied it to his stroller - kid had waaay too much fun with it! LOL

Jay got to ride the carousel twice as we bought a set of tickets thinking they'd charge one of us to take him on, but nope! Parent escorts got to ride for free! Kid loves the carousel!

 What a pair!

You can see Jay's temporary tattoo on his hand of Lucky the Leprechaun from Lucky Charms cereal got mostly rubbed off too - he wasn't a fan!

Playing with the balloon some more!

 Pondering!

We went to get him out of the car when we got home only to see he had 1 shoe and sock off! Little Stinker!

 

And since it's Phone Photo Fun Monday, here's some other pics on my phone since the last time I shared:

 Silly boys!

 Playing

 This one cracks me up!

 Watching TV together

 Typing just like daddy!

 Typists!

My Teefury "Wookie the Chew" shirt came this week - I LOVE IT!