This is the thread where we catch up on each others lives.

My refrigerator took a trip to the Big Kitchen In The Sky while I was at Mayo Clinic last week. My landlord said he took something off the circuit so it should be ok now. Well, no. I have both the fridge & freezer cranked & the fridge, everything is warm; the freezer, makes things very cold, but not frozen. So we'll see how that goes.

Other than that, work is going great, should get back to it.

How is everyone else?

Sorry to hear about your fridge: I absolutely can't stand mine (we are renters and can't be choosers) and would love for it to kick the bucket.

Hmm, something interesting, eh...

Well, SO wants to learn how to crochet, so we've been doing that. I haven't indulged in a long time (we're talking 10-15 years at least), but it's amazing how quickly it all comes back. It's kind of hard seeing her struggle and get frustrated, but that's just part of learning. I made us a set of coasters and am now making her a scarf: 1 inch wide and so far about 7 feet long (and still growing). For some reason she think's I'm strange. It's funny, I actually really like crocheting, but I don't like crocheted things- go figure.

so do you own the fridge? or your landlord? I hope no food has to get thrown away.

things are just going on like normal. We leave for trip to Canada (I haven't been home for 4 years!!) next week. I'm bring both kids - but not making dh visit his mil - that would be cruel
wish me luck on a plane w/ a 1 year old and a 6 year old.

This sounds so bad.. but I can't wait for some of the food that I just can't get in the states! Tim Horton's, Licks, Eat More chocolate bars. I'm going to have to do tons of walking that week!

Yikes, good luck on the flight. Have fun!

We went and had dinner at our friend's house last night. Delicious! It was so much fun. My good friend brought her daughter, who is turning 1 next month. She's sooo cute, makes me want to have one. But DH and I aren't ready yet so I'll just keep borrowing my her and another friends daughters when I get the urge. At least I can give them back to their mamas when it passes! No big plans for the 4th. Just a small bbq with the neighbors. My birthday is this month and we're trying to save our money to do something special then.

I'm still here, seems like getting bigger by the day. I think Nate's about ran out of room and I've still got 2 months left. I felt kicks just up under my boobs today. I have a doc's appt. on Wednesday so we'll see. I also have to do my 24-hour urine tomorrow but I think it's a great day. We're doing our celebrating tonight and Jeff plans on taking the kids to MILs for their events so I get the house all to myself.
I've got my hospital bag packed and as long as I can survive this heat without swelling up like a balloon, I should be good. The kids are doing great. Lilly is little miss attitude and mom just calls her Little Dawnyal (wonder where she gets it from.) We've almost got William all the way potty trained. He is getting better a pooping in the potty. Chris started ADHD medication a couple of weeks ago but I haven't noticed any difference. Other than that, things are going well. I've written me out a plan of attack for after I have the baby to get back to my healthy ways and use the quick weight loss of having the baby jump start my weight loss efforts.

Aimee—Sorry to hear about the fridge. Hopefully it will resolve itself soon or landlord will get you a new one.
Jen—I love to crochet too. It has been a great stress reliever for me of late. I almost have my baby afghan finished. Shouldn't be too much longer.
Dana—Not too much longer. I bet you are getting really excited. Is this the first time for you daughter to visit Canada? I'm sure you'll do okay on the flight with the kiddos.
Scarlett—I used to borrow my friends' kiddos too. Now I just need to find more friends who would like to be on the borrow system.

Interesting that you brought up crocheting. While at a family reunion last week my SIL as knitting socks. I thought that was need but told her I would rather crochet. I found a pattern on line. I went to the craft store and bought some sock yarn and a hook. While flying home tomorrow (I have been on a 2 week vacation) I will work on my socks.

Hmm.. crochet.. i seriously do not think ive ever ever done this.. interesting.. i love hobbies, i hope you all do well with yours.

let me see. my life... hmm.. just got done with summer semester at school, so i have about a month before the fall semester begins.. getting all my ducks in a row to get into nursing school come January..

Working on potty training my son, he is almost three and pretty much could care less about peeing in the potty :P so we are working on that.

Thats my life.. work, school, and doing the "hooray for pee pee" dance

Thanks for starting this thread Aimee! Work is great, I just completed a pretty tough course offered at work and wrote the exam last week. The course requires that you do a 5-6 month project (project team of 5), complete a report, complete a business case and write a6 hour exam. Last year only 3 out of 30 people passed the exam. So, I am happy to report I cleared the exam, and we did really well on the business case. Whew, a good thing as it is part of my objectives this year.

This weekend was nice, I did a lot of work around the house, trimmed the bushes in the back yard, and put together a new Bar B Q. I also saw a few movies as well, and read a book all day yesterday.

Actually a really short week for me, as I am only here at work for two days, and then I am off on a mini vacay to Algonquin Park for a 3 day canoe trip with doggie in two. I am looking foward to it.

my boss went into the hospital this weekend, thought he'd had a stroke (he recently had heart valve replacement surgery). after all the tests and 3 mri's they let him go home and he has gotten a clean bill of health, whew!

Rob and I went to Coney Island yesterday. Today is the hotdog eating contest (guess those guys aren't calorie counters ) Looks like thunderstorms here too.

Not much going on here. Worked 3-midnite on the 4th. But we went to the lake and had a cook out July 3rd. Was alot of fun. It is sooo nice having a lake with a nice beach 5 minutes away.

DH is still looking for work. He has been out of school since February and I am getting frustrated that he hasn't found anything yet. I'm sure once he does find something it will be fabulous but the needing to be patient still, after being the sole financiall support of the family for 3 years is really, really, wearing on me and feeling resentment and anger towards him. On top of that I have lots and lots and lots of guilt about not seeing much of the kids, they have NO SCHEDULE or routine, having the house pretty much a mortifying "there-is-no-way-we-are-having-people-over" kind of mess AND rarely having dinner together as a family. (Which I feel is really important, but if I'm not home, DH just fixes the kids' plates and then sits at his computer unless they ask him for something. Of course, when I am home and we eat together, we can barely drag him from the computer to eat at the table with us. It is soooo frustrating! Plus, as a result my kids' eating habits are ATROCIOUS!)
With all these issues going on, I've been struggling with my food and indulging my emotions with junk food. So frustrating. And I know if I would just work up the courage to tell DH how I feel and have a nice serious talk with him I'd feel so much better. I'm just scared; feels too much like confrontation to me, and I'm not good with that stuff. I'm worried it will turn into a shouting match, nothing will be resolved and I'll end up apologizing for my feelings because I can't stand having people mad at me.
Anyway, thanks for listening.

Laura -- I know what you mean about being frustrated with DH but not wanting to talk about it... However, you know he can't read your mind! Maybe if you approach it without anger and try to just explain how you feel it will be less likely to escalate. With my hubby, saying things like "I feel frustrated when you do such and such..." is a better gambit because the focus is on my feelings, which he takes seriously, and not necessarily saying he needs to change a behavior (though I hope he does)...

Vent more if you like!!

Laura, I feel for you. I went through something similar. My DH had graduated in April and did not find a job until October. It will get better though and he will find one as long as he looks. I reached my own breaking point in which I just told him that if I was the supporter he was the housewife and I needed to see that taken care of. He did it and he is still great about doing his share. You just need to talk to him and let him know how frustrated this whole situation is making you. In the long run it will be better for you and your marriage so you don't end up resenting him. I hope that he listens, but if you approach it well without really making it into a your fault his fault thing I think he would listen. Maybe give him some ideas about getting housework done that you have found along the way. I don't think that kind of thing comes natural to most men. Good luck with it all and this too shall pass. DH has been working steadily for 5 years now and we have not looked back.

Trish

Laura, I've experienced something similar but only not with DH, with myself. I graduated in December and am STILL looking for a job. I didn't have any/much experience and I think that's why. It's very frustrating for me because I've been looking for so long. I hope you DH finds one soon. I know I feel extemely guilty about not contributing to our household although DH has told me that if I want, I don't have to find one. Well, what the heck did I go to school for??? I'm in a weird place with that because I know I want to work now but I know that once we start having children I won't be working again until our last is in school. DH and I made that decision a long time ago, even when I was still in college. Still, I keep looking cause right now I'm so bored I'll work anywhere (well, most anywhere).

I got some pictures that a friend of ours took at our wedding last month. I don't have the professionals yet (my mom does but she's gotta bring them to me). Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to see the pictures. I looked pretty. I'm glad I can see that rather than being plagued with nitpicking thoughts. I was at my high weight that day but when I look at the pictures I don't see that. I see how happy I look, how nice my hair and dress are, how incredibly handsome and sexy my husband is...oh wait, I was talking about me. Lol. I'm excited to get the rest of the pictures now, as I was dreading it a little before.

Laura, I wonder if he's experiencing depression? When I went through a period of unemployment, I had a hard time just getting up in the morning to get the kids out the door. If he's never been one for doing household chores, then that's different, of course. I like the others' idea of talking with him in as non-threatening a manner as possible. You might want to rehearse what you'll say and how you'll react to what he might say.

It's fun reading what everyone is doing. I can relate to the liking crocheting, but not liking crocheted stuff--sounds reasonable to me!

So my tip for the day is to take detailed notes when talking to service people of any type and always keep receipts. We had a dishwasher flood in April, got an insurance check and the ins. co. said they'd subrogate to get our deductible back ($500!). We paid a company to take the old dishwasher and find out what happened. They promised to return the part. They lost the part and now the insurance company can't subrogate. Luckily, we kept detailed notes on our conversations with the company who took the old dishwasher, and have receipts, etc. so I'm going to try to get our $500 back from them since they lost the part they were supposed to return.

Ok so this is likely to be the stupidest gripe and thing you have read all year but here goes. I am frustrated. I am because my DH does not care what I look like. He does not care if I loose weight. He tells me all the time that I am beautiful and that he likes me just the way I am. I know you are all thinking what a wonderful man. (and he really is) The frustration for me is that he is too accepting of me. All of my motivation has to come from me. (which is the way it should be but...to have some outside motivation would occassionally be nice instead of having to jump start myself all the time). He would never look at me sideways and ask if I am sure that I want to eat that or remind me that I need to get up and exersise and give me that kick in the but. Ok there I said this was the most stupid thing to gripe about, but there you have it, I just had to get this off my chest.

Trish