April Showers bring May Snow????

It's been a few months of chaos in my home! Life has just been crazy busy with working two jobs, going to school and taking 4 classes (oh who's ingenious idea was that), and being momma to my precious baby girl! The most exciting thing that has been going on during these last few months is that I have been very diligently working on having my weight loss surgery. Starting towards the end of January we were waiting for my surgery to be approved by the insurance company. That was two weeks of me being a neurotic mess and being highly impatient. After that the fun began, I had to start meeting with the surgeon, the nutritionist, the physical therapist, and then a psychologist. Most of the time I lucked out and was able to schedule all my appointments in one day. I was given a surgery date of 4/5/13. Which was perfect it gave me a little over  a month from surgery to lose some weight and get in my dress for Brittney's wedding in May. Between January and surgery I had to work very diligently on changing my diet and changing my eating habits, along with that I had to learn how to exercise more frequently. I think I successfully accomplished this task because I managed to lose 32 pounds before surgery

Anyway, at this point it has been four weeks since surgery and I have lost another 21 pounds and I'm 9 pounds away from being under 300 pounds. I'm super duper excited! So much closer to my goal already. It's amazing! I have more energy already and love going to play with my little girl! It's the greatest feeling in the world feeling like I can keep up with her!

Lorelai is doing amazingly well! She has been fighting some allergies but seems to be handling it well. She seems to be talking more and more everyday. Along with that she is learning new words and she repeats just about everything. I really have to watch what I'm saying around her. Every time I look at her it seems that she has gotten taller. We are anxious for the weather to warm up. We had a taste of 80 degree weather and now its cold rainy and in the 40s and its May!

Winter Wonderland....2 Months Late

Well things were pretty quiet and easy going......minus the crazy deadlines at work....until we got hit by what is so lovingly being referred to the Snowpocalypse of 2013 on Feb 21st, 2013. I woke up that lovely morning at about 5 am and not a single drop of snow outside. My thoughts are a) the weather man is crazy and really exaggerating b) I'm going back to bed and I will get up in a few hours and head to work. Of course 8:00am rolls around and I so eagerly (notice the sarcasm) mosey my way out of the bed and look out the window only to find several snow covered vehicles that honestly look like they are giant snow balls. I then get Lorelai up and get her dressed. We go outside and dig our way out of the snow. I have decided I'm still going to try to get to work at this point. You have to understand when you live in South Dakota a foot of snow is nothing and my thought is that I can totally tackle this feat! I finally get the car dug out and Lorelai is safely in the warm van as we creep our way up the hill to Ashland Rd and then slowly creep up Ashland Rd to Stadium. I'm beginning to realize just how heavily the snow is falling and that I can only see about 10 feet in front of me. I drive a little bit further and determine I'm calling my boss and telling her I'm not coming in to work. The worst thing ever for me would have been to be stuck at work and unable to get to my daughter. Needless to say Lorelai and I turned around and went home! We spent the day just hangin out around the house and cleaning. I was able to clean, do laundry, and got to play on the wii a bit. In fact we were able to find Super Mario Bros 3 on the wii! I was so excited about that!

Friday, I was luckily scheduled to work at the apartments. So, I was able to take Lorelai to daycare and then walk around the corner from my apartment to the office which was nice. It was pretty quiet other than dealing with calls from tenants regarding the snow and how upset they were because the company that we hire to plow the snow was plowing snow apparently behind their cars. I'm sorry the snow has to go somewhere and unless you are planning on moving your cars before they get there then yes the snow is going to a little stacked up behind your car. Enough of my rant about that. The weekend was pretty normal, just my typical work schedule, homework, and a little bit of play time with Lorelai. Monday I was able to get back to the office and work on some things that really needed to get done. However, Monday afternoon the MoDot issued a No Driving Advisory for 48 hrs starting Tuesday due to another snow storm. So, guess what Tuesday was another snow storm. This one we didn't get as much snow accumulation but it had very heavy wind and the snow that did fall was a very wet and heavy snow. It caused a few roofs to collapse on some businesses, a ton of residents in the MidMo area lost power, and I was out of internet for a large majority of the day due to a fiber optic cable that got cut. I didn't try to go outside that day until about 2:30 in the afternoon when I looked outside and the roads looked like they had been pretty well cleared off. So, Lorelai and I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up some things to create my Picture Collage on the empty wall in the living room that was driving me nuts! I also was able to make a coat rack which I had been wanting to do. So, it overall was a productive afternoon. Anyhow, it's now Thursday and it is still snowing just not as bad and yet again they are calling for another snow storm on Tuesday! All I can think of is that we need to have inclement weather pay! Lol. I'm kind of sick of snow at this point and have determined that God just wanted us to have our winter wonderland a little bit later this year and that the groundhog lied big time! :-)

P.S. Walmart on Conley closed today due to a fear of the roof collapsing from the heavy snow. However, I made it there before they closed it down and I was able to find Lorelai an absolutely adorable hat that actually fit over her head! Plus it was on sale!! Super Excited!

Happy Snow Days Everyone!

7 Months worth of craziness!!!

According to blogger I haven't blogged in approximately 7 months! Ahhh!!! So, I figure now is the time to
attempt to catch up on the happenings of the McDougals!

July: Was pretty normal, nothing to super exciting. The 4th of July came and went. Lorelai seemed to enjoy
the fireworks more this year than last. She just stared at them so intently it was rather amusing!

August: Turnover season at the apartments which means it gets a little chaotic and crazy! That's pretty much all that happened in August.

Septemeber: Beginning of Fall which is totally my favorite time of year! The weather cools downs just enough, the orange, yellow, and red leaves start showing up, and of course that means Halloween is right around the corner!

October: Well let's see my baby girl turned 2!!!! We had her birthday party at the Little Gym. I think that was the greatest thing ever! They did practically everything as far as sending out invitations, having games ready for the kiddos, etc. It was just great to have so much fun celebrating w/ Lorelai and getting to see her with her friends! The middle of October I started a second job at MBS Textbooks in their call center. I had worked their previously when Lorelai was first born during their "Winter Rush" as we so lovingly refer to it. Now, they have hired me as a part time permanent order processing agent.It's fun and exhausting but you do what you have to do to make it sometimes!Halloween was also this month. Lorelai dressed up as a witch.However, we didn't make it out trick or treating. She decided throwing a temper tantrum was much more enjoyable. So, after her temper tantrum we curled up on the couch watched movies and ate pizza! Quality mommy-daughter time!

November: Was Thanksgiving. As usual protocol with the McDougal's we all gathered up at my mom's house and celebrated with her! My friend Chris and his parents came over to have dinner with us as well which was great. I love having family and friends around and just getting to enjoy quality time with each other!

December: Christmas! Christmas was at my mom's house this year. It was wonderful! I was super excited to have the family around as usual! Zoe got to come home for about a week. Although, I wish she would have stayed longer but I know she needed to get back to Kansas City to go to work. I was able to get my mom a 32" Flat Screen Tv for Christmas and she was totally suprised and excited. It's really a nice feeling to be able to get your mom something that she has been wanting for a while and totally wasn't expecting to get. I was also able to get Lorelai a Wii for christmas. I'm hoping that I can find some good educational games for her to be able to play on it! Also, on Christmas an unusual McDougal family tradition is to go to a Chinese restaurant for Chrismtas dinner! So, that is what we did!

January 2013!!!: A new year! Well it's January and in the accounting office that equals craziness!!!!! It means W-2s have to get sent out and we are transitioning from 2012 to 2013! It also means the start of tax season for us! Also, I have started classes again! I'm taking Intro to Business, Accounting I, Macroeconomics, and College Orientation. I have decided I'm a little crazy....single parent, working technically 3 jobs (although it only feels like 2), and taking 4 classes. I guess it will all pay off eventually. This year  my best friend Ashley will be coming home for about 6 months while her husband Nic is being deployed to Japan, my friend Chris will be moving back home after being in Kansas City for entirely way to long, my munckin butt aka Gabe will be turning 4, I'm turning 24, Zoe is turning 20 and my best friend Brittney is getting married on her birthday, Parker is turning 22, a mutual friend of mine and Zoe's who we love dearly will be getting married in July, I have heard whispers of vacations to the east coast this summer to see family, Lorelai will turn 3 in October,  and the most exciting thing for me personally is I will hopefully be having the lap band surgery done!

That's been the last 7 months & a little of what the new year has in store for us!

Busy Bee Week

Let's see last Wednesday was a fairly relaxing day as far as work is concerned. After work, I went with my mom, sister, and our friend Melanie to church for community live. I have really enjoyed going to community live here lately as it is just a good time for me to stop in the middle of the week and get to a peaceful spot and slow my world down again and refresh for the rest of the week. Some funny things happening at during Community Live have to be Rod saying the phrase "swagger wagon" to which I then found out Toyota had made a hillarious video that is called that....it's quite entertaining to say the least. Then David Arinder one of our pastors was talking about the joys of being an empty nester and how his wife took the towels to do laundry while he was in the shower so he just hopped out of the shower and walked through the house....things we didn't want to know. Then to end the night at Community Live James one of the guys in the band had everyone playing the air guitar. Zoe and Mom did a wonderful job with their air guitar performance. After community live Mom and I took Lorelai to the quad on campus to go see Sherlock Holmes 2. Such a great movie and it was a goregous night to be watching the movie under the stars! Love doing things like that!

Friday night I got to experience a little bit of freedom! Lol My boss's band Faded Youth was playing at a local bar here in town and they invited everyone out to go watch them play. So my daddy was nice enough to watch Lorelai for me so I could go out and see the band. It was great fun and daddy I can't thank you enough. Saturday morning we got up and met my dad, Lorelai, Parker, Caroline, and Zoe at Cracker Barrel for a Happy Father's Day/Happy Birthday Parker celebration. It was really fun to have everyone together. We don't do that often enough! Then Saturday afternoon Mom made Parker a cheescake for his birthday and we all got to enjoy a wonderful lunch together.

Sunday I got up and went to church and then just spent the afternoon relaxing a bit. Then later that evening I took Lorelai to the Juneteenth event. I think it's important to expose her to heritage. After that Zoe, Mom, Lorelai, and I went to the summer concert series at Shelter Gardens where they had a bluegrass and cajun band playing. It was a ton of fun and Lorelai really enjoys music. So she had a blast dancing and running around in circles.

That's been the excitement in the life of the McDougals!

As they say to be continued.........

Summer Has Begun!

Let's start with Memorial Day weekend. That was an interesting weekend for sure. That Saturday was a little boring but not Sunday. I woke up and got Lorelai ready for church. We walked out side to go unlock the pool and I was very suprised as to what I found. This rushing gush of water coming up out of the ground by the side walk. Needless to say we had a water main break at the apartments. So, I obviously didn't make it to church that day. Lorelai went with Papa to work while I stayed and tried to help get the water situation under control. Eventually the water situation got under control but we had to shut off water to the entire apartment complex for the day and then we had a boil order for the next 24 hours after they turned the water back on. At that point I decided to pack up my laundry and Lorelai and go stay at Papa's house where I could get laundry done.  On Monday we just kind of spent the day lounging around until later that afternoon when we went to a BBQ at my dad's friends house. He makes the most amazing food ever!

This past weekend was the 20th Anniversary for Caterpillar in Boonville. This is where my dad works. So, I loaded up the car and Lorelai, Zoe, and myself went and met dad there. We got to tour the plant which was awesome. It was really cool to see the inside and how big the machines are and in general to see the place where dad works at. Zoe and Lorelai got to play in a bounce house which collapsed on them. It was kind of funny and scary at the same time. Then Lorelai got to ride on a pony which was so much fun. That was the first time she has ever seen a horse in person. The first ride she was a little scared and just kept a tight grip on papa. Of course after the first trip she was excited and wanted to ride a pony again. After awhile we took her back down to ride the pony again. She really enjoyed that.

The Past Four Months

Lets see if I can remember all the things that have happened in the past four months....by the way this is totally strecthing my memory. In February Brittney's son Gabe aka munchkin butt turned 3 and we went to his birthday party at Burger King. Brittney and I made Rice Krispy Treats instead of cake for his birthday because he is allergic to eggs. Gabe, Lorelai, Shawn, and Wesson had tons of fun playing in the play yard at Burger King. It's kind of funny watching Lorelai attempt to climb up and chase after the big boys.

In March my best friend got married which was a ton of fun and very stressful at the same time. Ashley and Nic had been through so much and it was great to see them finally get married. The joke about their wedding is third time is a charm and I don't mean marrigages. Anyhow, it was a goregous ceremony and was filled tons of love and laughter. Then Ashley and Nic moved to North Carolina where Nic is stationed. I was sad to see them go and I miss them both very much. I hope to visit them sometime soon.

In April we had Easter which was a lot of fun! My sister came for Easter which I was very excited about. Even if she did come home with a staph infection.

April was also my 23rd birthday! I'm getting to be so old! I enjoyed dinner with my mom one night and then the next night I got to go to dinner and a play with my dad. We saw this great play called Murder at the Howard Johnson. It was an awesome comedy!

May has been a little crazy. It's the beginning of turnover season at the apartments. We are staying incredibly busy. I also had my final for college algebra. My sister has officially completed her freshman year of college at KCAI. I'm so proud of her. In fact she is actually coming home today! I can't wait to see her. This week is also her 19th birthday. We may go to SoCo to celebrate so that will be fun! Then the beginning of June I will be moving to a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment. It will be amazing for Lorelai to have her own room and to have so much more storage space. I also will be gaining a brand new kitchen! Lorelai is beginning to gain more words in her vocabulary. She loves saying shoes, push, stop, fish, dog and then making the sound the dog makes. She just keeps getting smarter and smarter everyday. I love watching her grow! There are tons of things to look forward to and lots of things to keep me busy!

It's A New Year

I have survived another year! Things are staying busy as usual around here. It seems as though there is just always something going on. Let's see I really can't remember a whole lot of what happened since that last time I posted. So I will just start with Christmas! This was Lorelai's second Christmas and it seemed to be a little more exciting to her then last Christmas (she was only 3 months old.) Lorelai got spoiled and got a doll house that her great great great grandpa had made for my mom at one point and my uncle fixed it up for Lorelai and shipped it to us all the way from Vermont. That was Lorelai's big gift for this year. She seemed to be more interested in the wrapping paper and boxes than most of her toys although her Dora shoes caught her attention. We went up to my mom's house for Christmas and enjoyed it with my siblings, my mom, and Parker's girlfriend Caroline. We all really enjoyed the gifts that we got from each other. Then later Christmas Day as the usual McDougal family tradition we went and had Christmas dinner at China Garden. Which was really good. The following week I drove to St.Louis on Tuesday, Parker and Caroline drove there on Tuesday as well, and then Mom and Zoe drove up to St.Louis on Wednesday to pick my grandmother up from the airport. She flew in from Vermont to spend a few weeks with us! We then spent Thursday sight seeing around St.Louis and eating brunch at this restaurant called the Rooster. It was really Yummy!

New Years was just another day to me. I ended up being at home and falling asleep. In fact I've done that for the last three years! I really enjoyed my visit with my Grandma and was very excited that she got to meet her first great grandchild. She was totally in awe of Lorelai. Lorelai showed her all the things she can say and how she can climb up stairs. Zoe and Parker have been driving around like crazy. Zoe has so far gone to Iowa and then had to go back to Kansas City a couple of times for work study training. Parker has been home and then driving back and forth to St.Louis because his girlfriend has moved back there and gotten a job at a hospital there. We are very proud of her but this distance thing is pretty hard on Parker and I'm sure on Caroline too. He has been talking about moving there this summer.

I have started another class at school. I'm taking Biology. It's a little nerve racking because it's been a few years since I've had biology. Although I was pretty good at it in high school but that was five years ago! So we'll see how this goes. My teacher is the wife of my science teacher from junior high school. I think that is pretty funny. I can tell you this though I definitely am not fond of this in class thing. I got so used to being able to do my classes online and that I really enjoy. It allows me to work on it a little bit, stop and do whatever I need to do and then go back to it. As opposed to the in class thing where I go to work and then right after work I go to class. It's kind of exhausting and hard to stay awake but I'm going to make it through this.

Meanwhile, one of my best friend's is getting married in March. So we've been busy dealing with wedding planning and I'm the maid of honor which is exciting but a huge responsibility as well. Then my other best friend got engaged over Christmas and even though it's going to be a year or so before they get married we have already tried to start planning some small details for her wedding. I'm also the maid of honor for her wedding as well. I'm very excited for the both of them and can't wait to be apart of these weddings! Love you both girls!!

I think that pretty much covers everything I can remotely think of at the moment! So Happy New Year to everyone!! :)