Hi!

Lady Luck

Seriously. That should be my nick name. ****WHOOP! WHOOP!****Sarcasm detector.

Sometimes I just have to laugh. I am sure that I am not the most unlucky person in the world, but most of the time, it seems like it. After the wonderful week I had last week, I figured I would be good for the year. Or at least a month. I guess I figured wrong.

Monday, I headed back to my home town to get some much needed new tires put on my ride. It was darn cold, but I knew it had to be done, if I stood any chance of making it to Sioux Falls this week. (If you'll recall, I have been trying to get there for almost 2 months now. Its always something...) Normally, the brutal weather would keep me home. I would hate to break down with a 1 year old. For what ever reason, I grabbed extra blankets, just in case. I swear, I have ESP, but I never listen too it. So now you where this is going. You have ESP too.

About 10 miles from my destination, my jeep makes a wonderful clunking noise, starts to jerk and the engine light comes on. Freakin Fantastic! I turned down the tunes and the heat, to listen for any knocking coming from the motor. Nothing. If I slowed down, the clunking and jerking would stop. Unsure if I should stop before I did more damage, I picked up my phone to call home. Its still early. Al will not be out of bed and he will not even hear the phone. I will call his cousin. I called his cousin, who said perhaps I could make it to my destination, if I drive slow. Not wanting to risk my toddlers limbs falling off, I kept on truckin.

I did make it to my uncles shop, however as soon as I pulled in, the motor died. I called home, in hopes that Tanner would sit up in his bed and answer the phone, but he did not. I had to call my Mother-n-law to go over to the house to get my hubby out of bed. Now you know he is going to be in a super mood. Its bad enough that I had to get him up from his deep slumber, let alone the fact that I probably broke it on purpose. Its all part of my plan to slowly drive him insane. Okay, I am completely exaggerating here. He comes to get us, and he is so happy to do so. hum hum.

I then had to go back with his cousin, in the tow truck, to drag my stinking jeep back to town. Al was not in the mood to fix it, so I had it dropped at the shop. I figured I was going to have to chop down a money tree to pay for it. I was expecting a blown motor or trannie.

I did have some luck. Thankfully, it was just a crank sensor and it only cost a couple hundred to fix. I also finally made it to sioux falls, and this time, I stalked up. No one in my household should have to worry about their poo poos, laundry, snacks, etc, for quite sometime.

Daytona

It seems a bit ironic that Mike passed away this close to the Daytona 500. That would be the superbowl for those of us who love racing. Mike was a huge fan of Earnhardt, who passed after his crash at the Daytona 500 in 2001. Keeping it in the family, Mike then became a Dale jr fan.

Today, at the Daytona 500, Dale jr will be driving his new car with its new number, 88. In case you are not aware, 88 was the same number raced by Grandpa Les, Uncle Mike, and Al. Keeping it in the family....

Like the pastor said, Mike will have the best seat in the house for the Daytona 500. I would like to think that Uncle Mike will be up there watching Dale jr, in the number 88, right along side Dale Sr.

I'll be watching too. Missing you...

What is real?

Did the past 3 1/2 days really just happen? I am tired, physically tired. Mentally, I feel lost. I thought that I would be prepared for this time, and I was somewhat. I am feeling a little numb and disbelief. All though I know it is real, I feel as if I it has all been a dream. I am just waiting for reality to set in. I guess the total suddeness of it all hasn't allowed me much time to process things.

I have been preparing myself for Mikes passing for years. I watched him go from pretty darn good to pretty darn bad during the 10 years I have known him. It was hard to see a once full of life & energy man, become restricted to full time care and a bed he could barely muster the strength to leave. I never fooled myself into thinking he would get better, but I had fooled myself into thinking he would be here much longer. It was almost like the boy who cried wolf. He would get really sick and spend a few days in the hospital and then he would get better and be sent home again. I guess on Tuesday afternoon when Al told me he was being brought to the hospital, I just thought he would bounce back like he always did.

I went to see him Tuesday evening. I grabbed his hand and said "love you buddy." He looked at me like he didn't know who I was and then said love you and told me to go home. He seemed to be in a lot of pain and really out of it, so I decided to let him rest. I figured I would come up on Wednesday, and he would be better and know that I was there. That is why I was shocked when Al told me they said he only had 2 days tops. I called my mother immediatly so she could watch Colter, but I told her to take her time. Once she got to my house, I lolligaged a bit, and then finally decided to the hospital. I stopped to get people beverages and mossied on into the waiting room where Al's stepdad and uncle were sitting. I was informed that if I wanted to see him, I should go now. I was totally caught off guard and I hurried over to his room.

Once there, I realized that I was not going to get to say goodbye and within 10 minutes he was gone. It was aweful and yet I was relieved. I was glad he would not have to suffer anymore.

The next 48 hours were a total blur. One thing after another and the next thing you know, we are standing in the cemetery. And now today, nothing.

This whole experience is something I will never forget and it has also had me wondering many things. Did Mike really go towards "the light?" Were his loved ones waiting there to walk with him to see the lord? Was he scared? Was he at peace? Now that he was free of his illness, did he do one of his funny little jigs for the lord? Is he stalking Earnhardt? Did he meet any of my family? Is he watching down on us? I hope to be around a lot longer, but I hope to one day see him again and find out what it was really like for him. I hope he tells me that all I had thought it may have been, was, and that it was 10x better than that.

Uncle Mike

Its 3:40 am and I am having trouble sleeping. Yesterday, we lost a very important part of our life. Uncle Mike passed away shortly after 1pm. He was only 51 years old. A life seemingly far to young. A life, for which, I was lucky enough to be a part of.

Mike. What can I say about uncle Mike? He was a man that at times, I loved to hate. He was impatient, demanding, and most of the time, he seemed self centered. His love of racing, often times seemed like his only love. His comedic way and difficulty in sharing emotion, made him seem uncaring. That couldn't have been farther from the truth.

I witnessed his heart many times, but I will never forget the first. Wether or not he knew, I saw him crying while Al & I were saying our vows. At that moment, I knew there was much more to this man. I knew he had a huge heart, and that he really did think the world of Al.

I always said, Uncle Mike should have been a stand up comedian, because he was by far the funniest man I have ever known. He never missed a beat and how he came up with the things he said, I will never know. It was what drew people to him. Everyone loves a good laugh, and he was ALWAYS good for one. Its what made you love him, even if you were mad at him. There was no resisting his comedic charm.

Al and Mike had a very special bond. Al was like the son Mike never had. He was a huge part of Al's life and became a huge part of mine. I don't think there was ever a doubt, that our son should be named after him. I am sad that Colter Michael will never really get to know his Uncle Mike. We will do our best to keep his memory alive, but it will never be as good as the real Mike.

You are loved Michael. We are going to miss you greatly. God SPEED buddy!

Smart kid

My Colter. He notices every thing. If a picture on the wall is crooked, he will notice it. I am sure this goes for most curious toddlers. I often joke that he is going to be a house inspector when he grows up. This morning, he pointed out yet another item that was out of place.

It was just another routine morning. We headed to daycare, babbling and pointing all the way. When we pull up to the sitters, Colter will announce whether or not her kitty is hanging out on the front porch. No kitty today. It must be to windy for her. Better hurry and get Colter out of this car seat and inside out of this cold wind. As I am pulling him out of his car seat, he says "Uh oh!" I look to see what he is uh-oh-ing about and couldn't help but chuckle. Apparently, some drunk dropped their bottle of budweiser on the side walk and it shattered into a million pieces. They didn't even get to enjoy it, because the lid was still on it.

Many thoughts went through my mind. The mom in me thought what a smart boy! He knows that beer is not good, and neither is broken glass. Hopefully, he will still feel the same way in 15 years. The old booze hound in me thought, "yeah he knows." Its sucks when you drop a full beer on the ground and waste it. The old fuddy duddy in me thought, "ha! ha! I bet you will be feeling that today." And of course, the comedian in me couldn't help but think about those commercials. Real American Heroes & Real Men of Genius. Real genius all right...

Stage fright

I was trying to catch Colter walking and talking, but he seems to get stage fright when ever I reach for the camera. You do actually get to hear him say binky. And he does run away. Not exactly the greatest video, but its better than none right? Also, notice how the dog follows him every where. Happy Friday!!

Toddler

Apparently, my camera has been on strike lately. I haven't been taking mad pictures like usual. I am going to have to work out a deal with my camera. I am sure all talk and no pictures gets boring. Who wants to read a book with no pictures, right?

My precious little baby has turned into a super cute toddler. I loved having a precious little baby, but I am also loving my toddler. Tantrums and all. I have been trying to teach Colter to throw things away for a while now. I finally got him to throw away his diaper. He was so proud, that he pulled it back out of the garbage and had to throw it away again. And again, and again. Later that day, we decided to go bye bye. I was try to get his socks and shoes on and of course, he thought it was more fun to throw his shoes around. I told him to go get his shoe and bring it to me so we could go bye bye and he actually did it. I was so proud.

Colter has really been picking up words, so its really time to start watching what we say. His dad was nice enough to teach him poo poo. Thanks to Dad, every time you go into the bathroom, Colter will announce if for you. He also thinks he is being funny by knocking on the bathroom door and yelling poo poo.

Tips that you need to know.......

Certain words should not be used unless you really intend to do them. Words like sleepy, nite nite and bed, will send him running to the gate on the stairs yelling bye bye. If you do not put him to bed, you will witness a real meltdown. I have never heard of a kid wanting to go to bed. Leave it to mine to be different. Bath and bye bye are also to be used only if you plan on doing them. So please choose your words wisely if you are visiting.

Happy thursday ya'll!

Tagged

I was tagged by Tess to complete this.

Here it goes....The rules for this meme are:(1) Link to the person that tagged you.(2) List the rules on your blog.(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged.

My six non-important things/habits/quirks:

1) I wash my dishes in the exact same order ever time. It drives me nuts when someone comes along and throws in a dish that is not what I am washing at that time.

2) I have a tattoo of flames and pistons across my back.

3) I really enjoy geneaology.

4) I like recieving junk mail. Junk mail is better than bill mail!

5) I am not a picky eater and I will eat just about anything.

6) I have to have something covering my drink at all times. That is why you will rarely see me drinking from a glass. I don't like to drink dust, bugs, toe nails, or anything else that may be flying around in the air!

Now for 6 people to tag...

I think I would like to hear a little something about all of you. So go for it!!

Nothingness

What are the odds? I was just thinking to myself..."I wonder when my official start date for blogging was?" So I looked back, and what do you know. It was a year ago today. So here I am a year later, still rambling on and on about nothing. So on with the nothingness....

Thank you to those of you who came to my jewelery party. I was not expecting to take such a liking to their goods. They had some nice stuff, and I will be able to get my self some nice things. Plus, you helped get my Auntie of my back. :O)

I have been desperatly wanting to get to Sioux Falls for some much needed supplies. I have been trying to get there for the past month, but something always throws a wrench in my plans. That something has been the weather lately. It seems on my days off, I need a day for major cleaning, laundry and R&R. The day I have free for shopping, its snowing & blowing or colder than the north pole. I am not about to take my child on an outdoor adventure with conditions like that. Will I make it this week? I think I saw snow in the forecast. May be I should start taking bids. Enough sob story....

Colter just does not stop cracking me up. His vocabulary keeps growing and he keeps learning new stunts. Last night, he learned how to go really fast on those wobbly legs. He is obsessed with grabbing other peoples shopping carts. So if you see us somewhere with a trailing cart, you better check to make sure it isn't yours. He also enjoys pushing all of the dinning room chairs around the house. Even the chair in the living room moves.

Well, I nothing else to say besides have a SUPER DOOPER weekend!