We finally had a really nice day today. The high was close to 50 so we had a lot of melting. I think it kind of lifted everyone's spirit. I had Dan Conway come over this afternoon to do some measuring for my new kitchen cabinets. I can't tell you how excited I am about that. The cabinets I have were built into the house when it was built in 1952. Dan gave me some additional ideas as well as things to think about. This project will probably be more costly than I bugeted for. Oh well, I have been waiting for this for 20 year!!!!!! I hope he can get started soon!!! The rest of the afternoon was spent doing laundry, scrubbing floors and cleaning. I know most people don't like to clean, but I don't mind at all. It really takes my mind off of work and all the other stresses of life. Tonight I am getting all of my foods ready for our Super Bowl party tomorrow night. That should be really fun as well. I think there will be around 12 of us. The party will be fun, however, it is going to challenge my diet. I have to be strong willed tomorrow. I did cup up a lot of raw veggies and most of them are free foods on this "lifestyle plan". I will just try to concentrate on the veggies. Well, back to food preparation!!!

Back in School

Whew! I am done with training a new employee. It isn't so bad to train a new employee, but it is a new employee for another office. I hope I did a good job. The weather is still cold. I think the high was 22 today, but the winds were a little stiff so the wind chill was 0 or below. What I wouldn't give for even 70 degrees right now. I am pretty excited. I went to my first Lifestyle Management class tonight. I have 3 chapters to read, I have a pedometer to wear, and decisions to make. I have to drink water or decaf/calorie free beverages. I need to journal everything I eat - if you bite it you write it! And I need to make some decisions as far as how I am going to reduce my calorie intake. There are 3 methods, the plate method, the 75% method and the meal replacement method. I will probably do a combination of the plate method and the 75% method. I need to start this all right now. Heck I have already taken 169 steps and I just got home!!!!! I sure hope I can do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yipes, another cold day. I think the high was 6 today. A regular heat wave!!! I don't know what I was thinking, but I agreed to help train in a new employee for the Plymouth office. She was the office this afternoon and will be there until Thursday afternoon. She is very nice, but I am not used to this stuff. Once again I don't get my own stuff done. Tonight we had a gathering of the "elbow band". We went out to Keylargo and had their burger special. I had 3 beers and a hamburger and salad and it came to $7.86. Wow, that is good! It was very nice to be with the elbow band members. Well, I better get to bed, tomorrow is going to be a long day.

Wonderful Weekend

It has been a very nice weekend at the Kruse house. First of all I didn't have to work. That always makes it nice. Then I went with Randi to take the kids to "Family Fair" at the schoool. They have all kinds of fun things for the kids to do there. There was a nutrition booth where the kids could make themselves a 100 calorie snack. There were several booths were the kids could make crafts. There were baby pigs and ducks, a snake and an alagator. Lauren had a great time. Denver came home for the day on Saturday as well. He bought a pickup a few weeks ago and we all wanted to see it. He also brought Danielle home with him. She is very pretty and very nice. Hope things work out for them and she will come home with him again. Anyway, Leon got called out on ANOTHER fire call. This time it was a fire. Someone had a chimney fire. When he got back all 8 of us went out for supper. Such a nice day . . . . . Today was a very lazy day. I haven't really gotten anything accomplished this afternoon. There are so many projects I would like to do, but I just can't make myself get started. I think once I can get started I will be fine. The one at the top of my list is to clean out the attic spaces. I feel the need to purge a bunch of stuff up there. I haven't really gone through those spaces for many years. I just keep putting stuff in there and now it is full! Maybe when it warms up a little. Those attic spaces are a little chilly. I can't wait too long though or the attic spaces will be hot! It just goes show - it's always something!

What a difference a day makes!

Ya, what a difference a day makes. Today the high was 15 and that was at 5:00 this morning. The temps fell all day. Right now the temp is abaout -15 and the wind chill is about -30!!! No more melting. This afternoon Leon had to respond to a fire call. It wasn't a fire however. It was a car rollover. I don't know how badly the people were hurt. We went out with our friends for supper as usual on a Friday night. I was very nice and the food was great!!! Now I am busy cleaning and tidying up. I have one more load of laundry to do today and the scrub living room and kitchen floors. Not too bad. And I don't have to work tomorrow morning. Yay, I can sleep in. That is going to be fabulous.

The last 2 days have been so nice. We have seen temps in the 30's and lots of sun. It was warm enough to get rid of some of the snow we have. Too bad I can't enjoy more of it. It is dark when I go to work and dark when I get home!

It has been really busy at work, but not unbearable. I just can't seem to get caught up. It is a good news/bad news thing. It is good that it is busy, but if I can't get things done, it doesn't do me any good. Kind of ironic I guess. I had a meeting today with my field rep that does the backroom stuff for our non-bank products (annuities, mutual funds, long term care insurance, etc.). The meeting was on sales and goal setting. I just had to laugh. I am too busy doing what I was hired to do, to sit and do all the reports they want me to do - those kinds of reports that tell managment what you do all day. Yipes.

Tonight we went to the girls basketball game. I love going to the games, but I don't get anything done at home. That makes me a little crazy. I have to be home at least a couple of nights a week or I can't deal with it. I have to learn to say "no". No to congregational president at church, no to the new Hospital Foundation, no to Community Ed board meetings . . . . . . .all those things that crush me and such out all of my spirit.

Tomorrow is Friday! Yipeeeeeeeee We will be going out for supper with our friends tomorrow. That is always so much fun. I look forward to it all week. Then Saturday Denver is coming home. We haven't seen him since Christmas. He is bringing his new girlfriend home with him. I am so anxious to meet her. I hope she likes us!!!!!!!!

typical Tuesday

Another typical Tuesday. I took the kids to daycare and then off to work. Since yesterday we only had the drive up open, today we made up for it. Whew!!! But on the up side the weather was finally decent. The sun was shining, there was no wind and the temps were around 25. Quite possibly the best weather we have had since Christmas. Tomorrow and Thursday are suppose to be in the 30's. YIPEEEE Maybe we can melt some snow. After work I picked the kids up from daycare and fed them supper. Then we all went to the basketball game. Logan slept through a lot of it and Lauren thought it was great - especially since we won. Randi and Travis met us at the game and then took the kids home when it was over. Now she doesn't work until next week so I won't have the kids until Tuesday I think.

More Winter Weather

I finally had a day off. I guess that may be perhaps the one advantage to working in a bank. Anyway, I had thought about going to Marshall or Worthington and do some shopping and visit with some friends. When I got up the scanner was on and I heard the dispatcher calling the cops to all kinds of cars in the ditch. I decided right away not to go anywhere. I did go uptown and do some shopping. I never get up town anymore. I am usually at work by 7:30 and work until after 5:00. I have a half an hour lunch break which is bearly enough time to eat something, but usually I have a least one errand to run on my lunch break as well.

This afternoon I just putzed around the house. It sure felt good. I felt a little "re-charged". At 5:00 I picked Lauren and Logan up from daycare. Travis got here about 7:30 to pick them up. He said the roads were really bad. The visibility was terrible. The scanner kept announcing more and more cars in the ditch and semi's jack knifed etc. They quit sending tow trucks out to tow the cars. They just started bringing the people home or into town to the hotel. I tried to talk Travis into staying here, or at least leave the kids here. He said he would be fine. He called when he got home. He said he went 10 - 15 mph with the lights off most of the way, but he mad it. Whew!!!! I was pretty worried.

Well, tomorrow - back to work. I sure don't want to go back to work. YUCK!!!!

The tears just flow . . . .

I guess it has been a typical Sunday at the Kruse house. Leon went to church early to practice with the choir. I picked Millie up and took her with me to church. Randi and Travis and the kids were in church despite the fact that Randi worked all night. They came over for lunch after church and then went home so Randi and the kids could all nap. A very nice Sunday, but none the less the tears came. I don't know why. I cried in church, I cried while I was making lunch, I cried after the kids went home. Oh of course I hid the tears. No one knew - except me.

The weather has greatly improved. I am sure the high was 30 - 35. Somewhere in that area. The sun was shining brightly and there was some melting going on. What a nice winter day. Well, except that now it is cooling off and there is some snow drifting. Leon (the fire department) just got called out on their 3rd car accident in the last 2 days. Very slippery. Thankfully the injuries were very minimal. The scanner has been going all weekend. There have been dozens - yes dozens of cars in the ditch around here. Many of them on I90 between Worthington and the SD border. Some of them roll overs and some of them just slid in the ditch and couldn't get out.

Tonight I am cacooning myself in my sewing room. I cleaned it last weekend. Tonight I am purging a bunch of things I haven't used for several years. They going in the trash. My theory is "Less is More". I have come to a point in my life where I don't like clutter. I am getting rid of a lot of it. I think it will make me feel better. Maybe. . . . . .

I don't know . . . .

I don't know . . . . The dark cloud of depression seems to be taking over once again. I feel like crying all the time. I feel an overwhelming sense of dread - a feeling like I won't ever . . . . I don't know, I just don't know. Just a dark feeling that is taking over my brain and my soul. Maybe it is the cloudy days that we have had. I am drowning and can't save myself. I just want to curl up under a blanket and cacoon myself in my room. What can I do to overcome this terrible feeling. I don't know. I just don't know . . . . . . . . . . the tears just come.

More Minnesota Winter

I woke up yesterday to a temp of -27. Keloland news said it was the coldest day since 1996! There wasn't any wind however sit it was not unbearable cold. Yesterday was also my VIP Club Pie and Coffee party. I thought I would have quite a few people call and cancel due to the cold temps. Out of the 40 people I had signed up, only 3 canceled though. We did have 2 more that didn't show, but I 6 people that came that didn't sign up so I ended up with 41! What a nice suprise. And everyone had such a good time.

We kept the kids overnight last night. Randi worked again last night (7 to 7) and Travis had a small emergency at one of the cheese plants. I think it is the one that make the Tony's Pouches. Anyway he didn't get here until 11:00 last night and he needed to be back to work early this morning so we just kept the kids and I will take them back to daycare this morning. Then after work I will pick them up from daycare and we will see what time Travis gets done working. Randi works another night shift.

I can't believe it, but we are suppose to see a high of 27 degrees today! That is a difference in temp of 50 degrees from yesterday!!!! A tropical heat wave. Well, I better get dressed for work so I can get the kids up and dressed.

More Winter

Well, another day of snow. It snowed all afternoon. Not much for winds, but snow none the less. It is suppose to snow most of the night as well. After that, a cold front is moving in. I am a little concerned. I have my VIP Club Pie and Coffee event on Thursday. I am afraid that if it is too cold on Thursday, we won't have many people show up for it.

Our new teller started today. So instead of getting caught up on my work, I spent quite a bit of the day get the new hire paperwork completed. Yipes. I can hardly wait until she is up to speed on the daily routine. The piles on my desk just get deeper and deeper.

When I got home I found a nice suprise. Randi, Travis and the kids were here. Apparently Travis worked from here for most of the afternoon (they don't have DSL available in their neck of the woods) while the kids napped and Randi watched a movie. It was nice to have them here. Tomorrow night the kids will spend the night. Randi has to work the night shift (7 to 7) and Travis is flying to Wisconsin for work. I will just take the kids to daycare before I go to work on Thursday. Ya, Thursday, the coldest day of the season. Burrr.

Winter Weather

Yesterday was so nice. We went to church - yes we took Millie along. She was in rare form, complaining about everything and everyone!!! After we took her home, it was a relaxing day at home. I cleaned, and organized a few drawers and just putzed. My favorite thing to do. We watched football play off games and a few movies.

Today however was another story. I got up expecting to see a ton of new snow. There was only a little new snow, so I went and worked out. by the time I got home it was snowing a lot harder. It snowed all morning and then about noon the wind came up. By 1:30 we couldn't see more than a couple of blocks so Diane and Ann decided they needed to go home. Being there by myself is not safe so I had to lock the front door and ran just the drive up. It was crazy. Trying to answer the phone and work the drive up window was insain until about 3:30! We had about 40 - 50 mph winds so that snow was moving around!!!!! Tomorrow is suppose to be pretty windy as well. I hope not. I have so much to do to catch up.

Leon had a fire drill tonight so I am home alone and loving every minute of it. I can do what ever I want and nobody is messing things up behind me. :) Well, I am going to have a glass of wine and then get my clothes ready for work tomorrow. A nice way to end the day.

Relaxing Weekend

Well, as I suspected, yesterday was another wild day at work. Whew! Maybe it was the weather. It snowed most of the day. Not a storm or anything, just 3 or 4 inches of new snow. For some reason, every time we get winter weather, it challanges people to get out and get things done. But then last night we went out for supper with our friends. That was very relaxing. I worked again this morning. I got caught up on all the things I had to set aside yesterday. That is the best part of working a Saturday morning. This afternoon is all about cleaning and cooking. I don't mind either one. In fact I love to cook, I just never know what to make. Well, I better get back to the cleaning part.

Lifestyle Modification

Well, I had my first meeting for the Lifestyle Management classes. This was just an informational meeting. They explained how the classes will work and what the expectations are. The first real meeting is January 29th. We will get weighed that night. Yipes. That scares me. We will get materials that we will be expected to read and willbe setting up a sort of game plan. After we set that up then there will be choices we can make on how to reach our goals. We will be wearing a pedometer to monitor our activity and journaling all of our food intake. Stacy says this isn't so much about dieting, but modifying your behavior to live a more healthy life. We will get our books in a couple of weeks - just before the first class. We will also be meeting with her one on one 3 times during the 12 week session. Cross my fingers and say a prayer. The weather tonight is not very nice. It is snowing a little bit right now. Soon we will be getting freezing rain. Then tomorrow more snow and 30 mph winds. could be an interesting day. But tomorrow is Friday so we can go out to eat with our friends. YIPEE!! That is what I look forward to all week.

Midweek Blahs

Another cold day in Minnesota. The wind chill was -14 this morning when I went to work out. Burrrrr. But - Only 2 1/2 months till spring! The good thing is I weighed myself this morning and I have lost 2 pounds since January 1st! YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A good start to my weight loss plan. And tomorrow night I get to start my classes. I am so anxious to start the classes. I really want to lose 50 pounds and I want to get started on this as soon as possible. I am hoping it will help my back pain and lower my blood pressure. Only 2 work days left this week. I am pumped!!!!!

A slower day - finally!

Finally we had a little bit slower day. I started to get caught up. Whew. I still have a big pile of things that need to get done. I sure hope I have another day like this tomorrow!!!!! I really need to get my VIP Club stuff done. I have the pie and coffee kickoff coming up next week and I need to have the Valentine Supper details worked out by then. Always something!!!!!

A Busy Monday.

Another really wild day at work. I don't know how many more days I can take like this. I didn't even really get a lunch break. I just have to think about next week when the new person starts. I almost have my sewing room reorganized. Just a little bit more work. Travis is bringing the kids over soon so they can stay overnight. Randi is working and he has to be in marshall by 6:00 tomorrow morning so he can fly to Kansas City. It is just easier for the kids to stay here and I will take them to daycare in the morning. The best thing that happened today though was that I got a call from Stacie and I was accepted into the lifestyle management program. I hope this is a good sign. I need to lose some weight to aleviate some back problems.

Weekend life

I had so much I wanted to get done yesterday. I did get most of it done. I got some laundry done. I need to finish that up today. I also got a lot of cleaning done. Then in the afternoon I spent 3 hours reorganizing my sewing room. It is mostly done. I have a lot shredding left to do. I shredded so much that I over heated the shredder! Then last night we were going to go to the chili challenge in Hadley. The weather did not cooperate however. There was a light mist most of the afternoon so the roads were pretty slick. They ended up postponing the chili challenge until January 17th. We will see how the day goes today!

Wow, I knew yesterday was going to be wild at work, but it was way beyond that. I was so exhausted when I got home from work!!!! We went out for supper with our friends - we call ourselves the "core group". I did very well with the meal. I had nachos, but only ate about half of it. I did have 2 beers though. Yipes! When we got home I sat down in my chair and fell asleep. I sure feel better today. In fact, I think I will clean out my sewing room today. I am in the mood to start throwing things away and get the rest of the stuff organized. Tonight there is a chili challange in Hadley. The proceeds will go toward a little baby that is Logan's age who has had 2 sugeries already and needs at least one more. Unless we get bad weather, we will be going to that.

It is 6:30 a.m. and my favorite time of day. I just got done at the wellness center and my shower. Now I have a cup of coffee in my hand and checking email, facebook etc before I get dressed for work. I did very well with my eating yesterday. My only downfall was a handfull of chips.

Randi and Travis were here last night with the kids for a little while. Logan is starting to have a personality. He giggles if you tickle him and loves to have you talk to him. Lauren always wants to be in the basement with the fireplace going to watch a movie. Of course the Shrek movies are her favorite.

Today is going to be wild at work. The first work day of the new year is always wild, and now we are short staffed. I am going in early today and probably won't get out of there till late. That is the pits when you are salaried. I sure hope we get a new person hired soon!!!!!

It is New Year's day. A day for resolutions. I have many resolutions I would like to make today, but many times my resolutions fail. Hopefully by posting a blog as often as possible I can stay on track. My New Year's resolution this year is to lose 50 pounds. I also have goals of "destressing" my life. Both of these goals is going to be difficult, but I am determined to succeed at both.