Video of the boat

Check it out...here. I think reality just sunk in that my dad really could not be with me today.

Still in shock...

Last night my mom called me, I was busy with the kids, and then she called again pretty quickly. I thought I better call her back and see whats up. I called and the conversation goes as follows,"Dad was in a really bad boating accident, but he is okay."Hmmm...okay..."What do you mean he was in a bad boating accident?"I can hear my dad in the background yelling. My mom goes outside so I can hear her. Apparently my dad, my uncle, my uncles three brothers, one of his brothers sons, and my other uncles father (are you following me) were out on my Uncle Stuart's fishing boat and it capsized. Now if you have been to the Lake of the Woods these are not "typical" fishing boats. They are more like "mini-yachts", my Uncle Stuart's boat is only a couple of years old, can hold a good 15 people comfortably-it has a sleeping space and bathroom. Anyways, my mom eventually put my dad on the phone and the story goes as follows.

My dad explained that they were fishing and they suddenly realized that one side of the boat was leaning more than the other. He went down to check it out and saw the boat was filling with water. He called up to Gary (my uncle's dad) to call May Day over the scanner. Gary called and my dad started searching for life jackets because nobody was wearing one. He said in like a minute and a half the boat flipped and they were all in the water. Mind you with no life jackets. My dad begins sobbing at this point. He said he was in the cab getting the life jackets and then under water. He seriously thought he was going to drown. He was able to make it out and find Gary, once they realized what had happened and were accounting for everyone they realized they could not find my Uncle Fred's brother Alonzo.


The Lake of the Woods water is not a quiet lake, the waves swell like the ocean, and many people have died there.After calling his name they hear him respond. He was still under the boat but able to breath because of the pocket of air in the cabin since the boat was upside down. Unfortunately there was no way for him to swim out because he was tangled up and unable to move. When Gary called May Day two boats that were near their boat heard the call over the scanner and came to find them. Once they reached them they pulled everybody on board and called to land for a rescue team. Poor Alonzo was in the water for over two hours underneath the boat until the rescue divers were able to untangle him. They had to bring him to the hospital to warm him up.

I think I am still reeling in shock. My dad said it was seriously a miracle that with a boat that size capsizing with seven people without life jackets that they all survived. He said to me repeatedly that we would not be out on the boat without life jackets again. Not that he would never fish again, but he would make damn sure he had a life jacket on. Here is the article on it and I guess it was on the news last night, I didn't see it.

So thank you my angels for watching over my family, I know who you all are, and I love you. But I know you love them all just as much as me.

Potty training...please remind me.

So, if your child tells you they are pooping and runs up to tell you that they need to be changed, does that mean it is potty training time?

Anthony was a hard nut to crack when it came to potty training. He was 3 when it was all said and done. At night he still wears pull ups because of potential accidents. His doctor told me not to be concerned until he is 6. Well he is 6 so I think it is up for some discussion at his next appointment. She did tell me that boys do generally take longer to train so I was surprised with Alex's poopy antics lately.

Potty training is not one of my favorites. The number one reason why is the commitment it takes on everyones part to get started. As a working mom you have to make sure your daycare provider is on board. You have to take initiative to ask sixty times a day,"Do you have to go potty?" You have to be prepared for accidents and doing an extra load of laundry a day. You also have to admit that your baby is no longer a baby but a full forced toddler ready to take the universe by storm. Probably the one that is the hardest for me because that leads into do we go for number three? A whole other conversation in its self.

So ladies, this is where you come in. Do I start out with the training pants? Do I start out slowly and ease him into them or do we say bon voyage to the diapers all together and just go full throttle for the big boy pull ups? I cannot really remember what we did with Anthony. All I remember is the frustration and triumph when he decided it was time not to poop in the pants and only the potty. That was a great day!

I am happy

Today is a day that I woke up late and I don't care because I woke up happy.

Why? Because:

• I got dressed and put on a pair of pants that have not fit me in over a year. Yep, they are buttoned and zipped without a huge muffin top. Just a mini that I can cover with my not too tight shirt. The point is they fit and they are comfortable.
• I LOVE my new job. I love my new boss. I love my new co-workers. When you can actually go to work everyday and say that you love what you are doing it really changes your perspective. To not be dreading going to work when you are drifting off at night makes going to bed much more pleasurable.
• Even though I really do love my job, I also am very happy it is Thursday because that means tomorrow is Friday. Friday equals us four heading out to the lake. Just the four of us. We are going to swim, watch movies when it thunderstorms, and head to Zorbaz on Pelican. Why? Because we want to.
• Tonight I am going to meet with a group of women to put our heads together to help a friend who now is very thankful for a clean bill of health but has a challenge that we are all going to try fix. I will remain happy if my husband is able to relieve me of the boys so I can go.
• My BFF is coming with her family to the lake next weekend to stay with us on the 4th. Their chaos always connects with ours well and I have a sneaking suspicion we will have a bonfire to solve the worlds problems.

So there is my list for today. I am going to say I am probably the happiest about the first one but all the rest are a close second. Regardless, it just feels good to be content and living in the moment.

Wowzer!

Yesterday was Father's Day. We packed up the boys (including my little cousin Christian) bathed in some Supergoop to avoid getting pink and headed to the lake. The weather could not have been any better! It was a nice relaxing day for us and I was even able to get tan lines. Woo Hoo! Erik was given cable for Father's Day. I could not take listening to him complain about missing his precious Twins anymore (plus I was missing Drop Dead Diva). He is one heck of dad that works way too hard so if cable makes him happy, I'm happy.

On Saturday night I had a festive night with my relatives. My Aunt Diane turned 60 and so my dad's family orchestrated a "fun bus" for us to take off from Fargo, peruse the lake bars for some dancing, and swing back to town. Let me preface that my dad's family is CRAZY! He comes from a huge Catholic family and they are all very close. He has 11 siblings, there are 6 boys and 6 girls. All those that are local (meaning reside in ND or MN) arrived ready to have some fun! We did just that. Started off at Pit 611, stopped at Swanie's and owned the karaoke as well as the dance floor, and ended the evening at The Roadhouse. Erik stayed back with the boys and woke up to us pulling in to our driveway singing,"Ole, ole, ole, ole"...

With the help of my sister's good looks I was able to save some cash because the guys were eager to buy her drinks (and me to impress her) but was not able to avoid the headache which followed the next day after she made me partake in her shot of choice: Red Headed Somethings. Need I say more? But the night was a success because my Aunt Diane (who I adore) had a great 60th birthday.

So our weekend was great, it ended with a bang with a huge hail storm last night. Did anyone else wake up to  that craziness? My husband was convinced that both of our cars sitting in the driveway were toast. Of course they were sitting in our driveway due to me being lazy not cleaning out the garage after my semi-successful garage sale on Saturday. He was not happy, I was happy to see that the vehicles did in fact survive this morning but I am pretty sure I will be planting some flowers again. They were pulverized!

Conversation in the car...

Anthony: "Mom, am I going to be a dad someday? When I am a dad are you going to be the grandma? Will Alex be the uncle?"

Me: "I hope you are a dad some day because I really want to be a grandma. Yes, Alex will be your children's uncle."

Anthony: "Mom, I am going to miss you when I am a grandpa because you are going to die. Once you die your holy spirit and soul will go to heaven." OK...

Me: "I might be a great-grandma when your a grandpa, you never know."

Anthony: "No, you will be dead but I will come visit you and your shiny grave." I'm thinking I am not quite ready to think about my grave but I just keep driving and biting my lip.

Okay, where do you go with that one? We really have never discussed death in great detail. I asked him where he learned it and he said at St.Joe's which makes sense since it is a Catholic school that they would discuss some of this. Honestly I thought his perspective was pretty mature for being six and mine was pretty immature for being 32. Really not interested in discussing me being dead and living under a shiny rock, but at least I know I will have visitors. :)

Have a great day!

Weekend Update

So this past weekend was RELAXING. Ah, let me say it again...it was relaxing. On Friday I hung out with the kiddos and played in the backyard. Like I mentioned Erik has been working crazy hours so I wasn't able to make it to the SATC2 showing with my girlfriends or to a baby shower at Mexican Village. But I was able to put  a dent into our laundry situation which by the way is a never ending battle. Please tell me that it is like that at your  house too? If I could afford it I would hire someone just to be my personal laundry attendant. It's like as soon as you feel you have been able to get it all put away you find yourself folding the same pair of shorts you swear you just got done washing.

On Saturday Erik worked so the boys and I did what we call Team Tortorice clean up. I have to give big kudos to Anthony, he really is a lot of help with chores. Alex is still trying but Anthony is really helping. He made his bed, threw his and Alex's hamper full of dirty clothes down the stairs for me, and picked up his bedroom. Once I was ready to put away the clothes he was ready to help with open arms. At Alex's nap time I peeked in on Anthony and he was quietly sitting in his room coloring. I was really proud of him. 

We made the big decision to shut off our cable for the summer. It is amazing how once that TV is not available to them they do function just fine without it. The movie requests have gone down and Anthony has become a lot more resourceful in finding things to keep his time. I thought it was going to be a painful transition, really the one that has complained the most is the biggest kid in the house-Erik. Because he can't watch his beloved Twins. 

Saturday my in-law's asked if they could have the kids so I dropped them off later in the afternoon. Alex was excited to show off his new sandals from Pout, he looks so stink-in' cute with them on. Plus they smell a heck of a lot better than his others. Man, that kids old sandals smelled like a grown mans, I am not kidding.

So, Erik and I took off to the lake. We picked up Leslie and headed to D.L. for dinner at Fireside. If you have not been there it is a must. Ambiance is good, food is good, service is great. It has the feel of Monte's but is on the lake in D.L. After dinner we made a couple of stops on our way back and ended the night at The Roadhouse. I met Erik's new boss whose hair kind of looks like Rod Stewart, but is a really nice guy.

Yesterday I started my garage sale planning. I decided to have one on  Friday night and Saturday morning this weekend. So if you are in the area stop buy and purchase some of my unworkables please. Also, if you want to sell some of yours feel free to drop them off, the requirement is they must be marked and you bring along a table. If you don't pick it up by Sunday it will be donated to The Dakota Boys Ranch.

So if you are looking for me I will be in the garage all week with a sharpie in my hand and masking tape in the other.

What we have been up to this spring...

Went to Bemidji for my Birthday-met my parents, had a fabulous time!

The boys live outside once it gets nice out and I love it too!!

We went to a MN Twins game with one of our favorite families or should I say train ride? Quick trip!

We went to the end of the year Skateland party with another one of our favorites...

I went to D.C. with my new co-workers for my new job that I am in love with.

A pretty good spring, looking forward to an even better summer.

Just straight up!

Last night was in one word: AMAZING!!! We did start out at the backstage pass party at the Radisson. There was a nice size crowd of people but it still felt very intimate. We all were able to take a picture with Jewel. I told her that we matched, she agreed. P.S. Not my most flattering pic but I am posting it because it's Jewel. You can tell she is a very private person but very polite, cordial, and FUNNY! It takes a lot for me to admit if I think someone is funny, that girl made me laugh. She came out for a quick Q&A session before she performed a song that has not been recorded yet. I believe it was called "Hole in My Heart". She explained that she had written it about a close friend of hers that died of cancer. It is still playing in my head this morning. It was also the last song she sang at the venue last night.

Let's talk about the venue. The Fargo Theater could not have been a better setting for her performance.  It was small, quaint, and intimate just like her. I thought it was really cool to watch the crowd and feel everyone mesmerized by this gorgeous little woman with a huge voice. There was no crazy outfits or people doing acrobats behind her. There was her, a couple of guitars, and a simple set that changed lighting when necessary. To me that defines a true artist. Oh and by the way she sang every song, definitely did not lip sync, and called out to the crowd to ask for song suggestions. Basically asking us,"C'mon Fargo what did you com here to hear?" Kris and I were both really impressed by a song she put together after googling Fargo-Moorhead. Hilarious! The FM Conventions Bureau must get a recording, it could be our city's new jingle.

By the way did I mention that the opening act Kip Moore was not only musically talented but GORGEOUS, You should have seen the line of women waiting to get their picture taken with him. I have a feeling we are going to be seeing a lot more of that man.

All in all it was a really great night. A big shout out to Country Financial to say THANK YOU for a fabulous evening. Kris and I both had a blast! Jewel's performance quite honestly could not have been any better and I am more in love with her talent than ever, especially being able to see her sing live. From her walking on stage and singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in a Capella to her hilarious rendition of "Race Car Driver" I am a fan for life.

Make sure you check out Kris's blog at Pout to hear her side of the story and if you are in St. Paul tonight, please do not miss this show-you can get tickets at Road Trips and Guitar Picks. I guarantee you will be so happy you treated yourself to this show.

Tonight...Jewel, here we come!

So tonight the festivities start at the Radisson. Kris and I get to go there for a private show with Jewel and get to munch on some appetizers as well as sip on some drinks. After her performance for a small group of people there will be an informal Q&A session for us to get to know her better. We also get to take a group photo with her. From there we walk to the Fargo Theater to see her live performance. Our tickets are VIP, backstage passes so we might just be able to sing with her. I mean I know she is looking for two hot chics to rock out with in Fargo, ND...right?!

Did I mention that I love Jewel, I love www.tripsandpicks.com, and I cannot wait for tonight!!!


I promise to post many pictures of our adventure tomorrow and give you full details. I still have no idea what I am going to wear...