Ten Things....

Here are ten things I'm mad irritated about:

1. I'm mad irritated that nothing has been invented to keep beverages cold 24/7. You know how many times I want a cold water/soda, and open the fridge to find none there. I go outside to the garage to get a bottle, and feel the luke warm room temperate beverage which instantly kills any desire I once I had to drink it. Why is it there is never anything cold to drink when I am always responsible enough to fill the fridge up!

2. I'm mad that when people do come up with good inventions, like google reader, they then take it away. Google Reader died on July 1 and I haven't found a replacement. Which pretty much means I rarely read blogs, and never conveniently. And that sucks.

3. Speaking of death, now that is something I'm just mad about. I'm mostly just mad about how it comes to an end, not that it does, just how it does.

4. I'm mad irritated with grumpy people. Over the last few days people haven't seen my always present fake smile. And then they look at me like "well, what do you have to be irritated about?" like there lives are so much worse and I could give them the courtesy of a fake smile. Ugh. People are such grumps.

5. I'm mad irritated with the Urbandale cop running radar on the interstate today. Seriously, its Monday morning. Can't you give people a break?! That shenanigans should be left to a Thursday or Friday when people can handle it better. On a side, I'm totally happy that he caught the guy right behind me, and not me!

6. I'm mad irritated with 18 month old shenanigans. I miss my beautiful daughter all day. And as I come home to give her a hug and a kiss, she smacks me right in the face. Twice.

7. I'm mad irritated that God only puts 24 hours in one day. I could waste so much more time get so much more done with just an extra like 45 minutes. Seriously, I'm not even greedy!

8. I'm mad irritated that I brought a bunch of work home with me and didn't get it done. It's a lose-lose situation when I bring it home. Had I left it at work it would not have gotten done, but I wouldn't have thought about it all not. Now it's not done and I have sat and thought about how its not done which has helped to ruin my night.

9. I'm mad irritated with the IT people at my office. I ask them to fix one thing. And they do. And now eight other things don't work. Ugh.

10. And lastly, I'm mad irritated I can't think of a tenth thing to be irritated about!

18 Months Already!

Emi celebrated her half-birthday on Saturday (which also happened to be my cousin and nephew's birthday as well as the day of my grandma's passing- but more on that later).

We went up to Minneapolis (totally unplanned) and spent the afternoon at the Mall of America. I used to hate the Mall of America, but in the last two years have grown to love that place. (Yes, we go there a lot. We go to Clear Lake a lot and if it is raining we just get in the car and drive to Minneapolis!).

We did a little something different this time. (Well, besides a trip to my beloved Nordstroms and Macy's!) First, we spent what will come to be the first of many trips to the American Girl store with Emi. She already has her Bitty Baby (Molly) who she drags with her everywhere! It was about time that Molly got accessorized. So after letting Emi play around in the store, we found the stroller would be just perfect! And it is! She loves pushing it all around the house. So sweet!

We then decided to take Emi to the aquarium in the mall. So much fun!

And last, but not least! A ride on the Carousal! Emi's Favorite! (I was just glad she didn't cause too much of a seen when it was time to get off!)

All in all, a wonderful half birthday for my darling!

Funny Conversations

Client: "How does the fact that my ex and I have merengue with my current girlfriend affect my child custody case?"
Attorney "What are meranges?"
Client: "You know, sexual relations with all three of us together."
Attorney: "I think that's called a menage -a- trois."
Client: "I knew it was some French word."


Colleague: "Did you meet your husband while on vacation?"
Me: (dumbfounded)

The Original Grandma Van Wyk

Long before my mom became "Grandma Van Wyk" there was this Grandma Van Wyk:

(On a side, how funny is it that you are eventually going to be known by your mother-in-law's moniker?!)

While we were not particularly close to my Grandma and Grandpa Van Wyk growing up (my dad was the oldest child) I have a lot of memories of my Grandma and Grandpa Van Wyk. I believe my love for Christmas Stockings comes from Christmas Time with the Van Wyk side when Grandma Van Wyk would fill our stockings full of crayons, notebooks, coloring books, and those little candy buttons. Plus, to say I adored my cousins (I am second to youngest) is an understatement, so spending time with Grandma meant spending time with cousins.

My Grandma Van Wyk is probably the craftiest person I know. Growing up she would make us dolls, bookmarks and stamp collections. I really did enjoy making crafts at Grandma's.

Some could say my vulgar mouth comes from my Grandma. I distinctly remember a conversations she was telling my dad about a lady at church she was angry with. Apparently the lady told my Grandma "I need to pee so bad I can taste it." And my Grandma said "Well, why don't you eat it?!"

It's been nearly twenty years since I last dealt with a sick family member. My Grandpa Vos died just two days after my 12th birthday? So when my Dad called me this week to tell me I needed to go visit my Grandma if I wanted to see her one last time, it felt very surreal. While we all know death is a guarantee in life (much like taxes) there is still a level of denial. In fact, when my dad informed me they'd be moving my Grandma to hospice in the next few days, I reminded my dad how they sent Aunt Gerdy to hospice earlier in the year and she walked right out of there! My dad reminded me that Aunt Gerdy was the only person he ever heard of to walk out of hospice.

So the Takekawa's made the trip to Mahaska County Hospital (interestingly the location of both my parent's births and my Grandpa Vos's death). I asked the nurse for my Grandma's room. I peeked in the door and did not recognize the lady laying there. I went back to the nurse to get the correct room (afterall they did send me to room 207 which was on the third floor) and she looked at me with sad eyes to inform me that was the correct room.

I walked into the room and she instantly said "Dawn!" While we didn't have very engaging conversation (In her words "[she] doesn't know anything") she tell remind me of a few important things.

1. What beautiful is today is not what beautiful used to be.
2. I have the most sweetest pretty baby she has ever seen!

Emi blew her kisses the whole time we were there. My Grandma loves babies, and I know having Emi blow her kisses over and over filled my Grandma's heart with joy. In fact, my Grandma then moved a bit to blow Emi a kiss back!

As we walked out of the room, I told Grandma I loved her. And she told "[she] would see me again ... hopefully."



I hope so too!

Cable TV, Unicorns and Ice Cream Trucks...

Cable TV, Unicorns and Ice Cream Trucks. What do these three things have in common? They didn't exist in my childhood. In fact, I can remember the day in 2002, I was visiting a college friend who resides in Kansas City. As we were sitting on her front porch I heard some familiar music growing louder. Suddenly, before my eyes, like straight out of Hollywood, was an Ice Cream Truck! I couldn't believe my eyes, for I thought this took place only in the movies, and here I was in the Midwest ready to order an ice cream cone from the sweet little truck with a bunch of 6 year olds.

I called my mom is excitement. "Ice Cream Trucks really exist, Mom!!" My Mom calmly replied "Yes, they exist here in Ankeny too. When we lived in town we could not afford ice cream from those trucks so we brought you girls inside." What?!? (Editor's Note: My parents broke down and purchased cable tv when I was about 10. The Van Wyks were the last residents in Polk County, however, to switch to high speed internet from dial-up).

The other day we were visiting Clear Lake when the familiar sound of the ice cream truck sounded. I sprinted to my car, grabbed a few bucks, and danced with Emi all the way down the street to buy some ice cream.

Emi loved it! (Despite my Mom's request "Who wants to buy ice cream from a freezer in a truck that has been driving around town all day? Lets go get some real ice cream." But real ice cream places don't play fun music. And they don't pull up to your driveway. And real ice cream places existed in my childhood.

Now on to my search for Unicorns....

Revenge is Best Served....

The other day I was telling my mom a story about somebody who has constantly done incredibly rude things to me. I told my mom how little I was concerned about this person's behavior because "revenge is best served..." And suddenly I couldn't remember just how best revenge was served. So I googled it, and this is what I found:

"Revenge is a dish best served cold" the best payback is the one that comes with planning, and that brings the most horrendous pain to your enemies when they are not expecting and are just enjoying the fruits of all the dishonor they brought upon you. One must wait so he can really inflict pain to those who wronged him. Careful planing is necessary so your enemies will suffer terribly, but you won't be harmed by the Law or by your enemies' allies.

After reading this I thought perhaps this coldness was too much for me. Maybe.

10 Things....

1. I haven't blogged in so long I hardly remember how to do it.

2. Do you ever dread looking at something because you think you messed it up. There is nothing like the feeling of being pleasantly surprised when you see you didn't mess anything up at all!

3. I'm so guilty of wishing time away. Today as I felt the nice cool breeze I couldn't help but look forward to Fall! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. I became a shareholder at my office on March 1. I have been referred to more as an "associate" than a "shareholder" by them since that date. Bummer.

5. My housekeeper, Irma, started today. I can tell we are going to become really good friends.

6. After I get done working I am going to download some new episodes of Giuliana and Bill!

7. I'm dying to hear what the new royal baby is named!

8. Ever since Google Blogger stopped working I have lost interest in blogging because I can't easily access my friends' blogs. Somebody bring me up to speed with a new app!

9. The other day I walked into somebody's home and it stunk of weed. Weird.

10. Watch What Happens Live is still my favorite show!