Life...

... has gotten away from me. I will be back soon after I chase it down.

The weatherman better be wrong this time

It has been 6 or 7 weeks that we have gone without rain. The grass feels like straw and the ground is cracking in some places because of being so dry.
I'm going camping this weekend. An all girls camping trip that has been planned for months.... and guess what the weather is supposed to be...... RAIN...ALL...WEEKEND.
It's not just the fact that it is going to rain this weekend that makes me 100% convinced that Mother Nature hates me. It's the fact that every. single. time I go camping it rains and it's usually similar situations- planned for months, no rain the entire summer until camping weekend.

I LOVE camping- but I am pretty much done with it. I think I'd rather shell out the cash to rent a little cabin somewhere for the weekend instead!

DUNBAR makes the news...

BODY FOUND IN DUNBAR

"The Marinette County Sheriff’s Department has identified the body discovered in a creek in Dunbar on Monday. Police say the man is Eric Volp, 28 of Iron Mountain. Police say they used dental records and a distinctive tattoo on the back of his neck to make the positive ID. Volp went missing in October of 2008. Police say they are calling Volp’s death “an unnatural death” and are classifying it as suspicious. Autopsy results show Volp had some broken bones, and police say they are not ruling out foul play. Authorities say a fisherman found the body on Monday, and said it was badly decomposed."

Yes, I know it's not the kind of publicity the town wants but holy crap! No, I didn't know the person.

They always did say if you want to get away with murder, go to Marinette County in the State of Wisconsin. I'm sure this will eventually be a "cold case"

The new addition...

As promised, I am posting about our exciting weekend news...

Meet the new addition to our family. My new baby. Her name is Suzie!

She's a 2008 Pontiac G6-GT with chrome rims! I am totally and utterly in love with her.

As previously posted- Betsy the Blazer had been on life support for quite some time and we finally pulled the plug on Friday! She is on her way to the auction for parts. Besides being in really bad shape she was getting unsafe to drive and with my recent promotion & raise at work on top of the money I'm saving by quitting smoking I was able to purchase my new baby! Not to mention the amazing deal we got. Car dealerships are VERY hungry for sales right now!

I can't drive enough, all I want to do is drive... or even just sit in it in the garage!

Crazy week

It's been a crazy first week without smoking... the cravings have been unbearable and my attitude is definitely less than desirable but I keep chewing gum or straws and trying to keep busy.
I do have some exciting news to post about this last weekend so stay tuned and I will hopefully get to posting tonight after I get home.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Today is THE day

I am finally trying to obtain one of my many New Year's resolutions. TODAY IS MY QUIT DATE. I smoked my last cigarette last night before bed and woke today ready to take this next step. I showered, got ready for the day and put on my 1st patch.... THEN the anxiety kicked in and the cravings and the irrational thoughts.
This all seemed very strange to me because I rarely "crave" a cigarette in the morning. It's just habit that I smoke 2 every morning. I was 20 minutes early to work because I needed to leave the house after breakfast because I wanted a cigarette so bad. I cut a straw in half and have that in my car so that I can hold it and chew on it. I have the candy dish on my desk filled to the brim with 2 bags of reserves in my drawer. And I have 3 packs of gum ready to go.
I know the next few weeks are going to be hell but I have to just look to the bigger picture. I know I want this I just need to get over the hill. I've done it before, I can do it again. But I can feel myself on the edge ready to snap in a second. I am definitely a bitch today! But I have a lot of support behind me. I. can. get. through. this.
Wish me luck!

Hotter than H-E-Double Hockey Sticks

I'm sorry to my friend Jaime over at Our Crazy Life but this post brings terrible news.

There is NO WAY I would ever move somewhere warm-for year round at least! I could however see myself being a snow bird!

The current conditions in Wisconsin are 92* and 70% humidity but it feels like 120* and can't even breath. I unfortunately don't have air conditioning in the Blazer, so in my 13 minute drive from work to home to let Daisy out, all of my makeup along with part of my face melted off into my lap, my back and boobs were sweating and making marks on my shirt and my hair is a big puff of frizz. Fortunately, we have air at home but even Daisy didn't really want to leave the comfort of the house to go out and go potty. The worst part about today is going to be playing volleyball at 6:20 in an un-air conditioned building. You don't even want to know how J is feeling at work today- he said it's 117% humidity and bleeping, bleeping hot at his machine.

Ooh, gotta run- one of the supervisors brought in ice cream treats for the plant and the office! Probably going to have to fight to the front of the line!

Attack of the pleather ottoman

Yes, you read right- I was attacked by my new pleather storage ottuman. And... it BROKE MY TOE. Just flat out call me a clutz or call it exercise karma since I should have been at yoga class- which ever- I stubbed my toe and yes, it broke. To clear up any miscommunication- I did not kick the ottuman in a fit of rage and I was not running when I hit the ottuman. Simply put the damn thing jumped in my way as I was walking through the living room.
I will save you from the pictures I took as they are pretty gruesome. I did send a phone picture to a friend and she replied back that it was a good thing I had my toenails painted because at first she didn't know what the picture was.
The victimized toe _lets call her Mindy- is the next door neighbor to the baby toe on my left foot or the "ring" toe if you will. And although all of my toes are a little stubby and a little fat she is about double the size as her twin sister on my right foot. She is also a beautiful shade of purple black that would actually make a great shade of night time eye shadow! Mindy has been getting up close and personal with my middle toe as she has been taped together with him for a couple of days now and seems to be getting better. I have gotten a new walk which now includes walking on my heel with my toes up so that I don't put any pressure on her. I have now perfected this walk so there isn't so much of a "hobble" to it! However, I am moving round like a stelth bomber as to not run into anything, let the dog jump on it or drop anything on to it. I had to get a sub for volleyball on Tuesday and my have to get one for next week as well. Such a stupid little injury... really sucks!
Oh, hell I can't keep the picture from you.... wait for it.... wait for it....
Bam!!!! Sorry for the poor quality picture it's off of my phone.

My Trip to Central America- Part Cinco

Part Cinco- Costa Maya Mexico

Even though it cost us a little extra we had decided to see the countries we were porting at and did onshore excursions at all ports. Our first port was Tuesday March 31st in Costa Maya, Mexico. The ship docked at 7 am and it was already 90*!

Costa Maya was hit by a hurricane a couple of years ago and they are finally starting to rebuild. One thing that I thought was great was that all the construction sites had hammocks so the workers could take their afternoon siestas! It's a practice I think employers in the US should adopt!

Our excursion- Kohunlich Mayan Ruins left at 8am with a 2.25 hour bus ride from the boat. Most of the small "towns" that we went through would consist of a random speed bump in the middle of the highway and where there was a speed bump there was a vegetable/fruit stand and a few houses. We did go through 2 larger towns that had restaurants, convenience stores and churches and they were the size of Dunbar or Pembine!

Our tour guide was Luis and once at the ruins he would blow into a conche shell to round up our group! The ruins were so amazing and the stories/theories were even more so. Restoration on the Kohunlich ruins was started in 1969 and continues today.

Because Costa Maya is a small town and not yet overrun by tourists it makes it a very popular area for running drugs. There were Mexican Army troops with scent dogs posted at our ship to ensure no one was bringing drugs into Mexico or trying to bring drugs back on our ship. There were also random army checkpoints along the highway we took to and from the ruin sight. Infact, going back to our ship after the tour there was a car pulled over and the troops were going through the car.

Once back to Costa Maya we did a little shopping and walked along the beach in the water. The wind had really picked up and the waves were amazing. Little did we know that those waves would enable us from getting off of the dock that night and we would actually get stuck in Costa Maya for the night. Missy and I went to one of the fancier restaurants that night and had a nice bottle of wine and delicious Beef Wellington only to have the captain come on the speaker and announce that we were trying to get off the dock but the wind and waves were just crashing us back into the dock (yes, the boat was rocking terribly). We apparently got off the dock sometime around 4AM which was much to late to make it to our Wednesday port in Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatamela. We would have an additional day at sea.

To view the slideshow below click on the arrow. Once the slide show starts click on the button in the lower right corner to maximize the screen. To end the slideshow click ESC.

IF....

If time and money were no option....

* I would buy a new vehicle
Betsy, the Blazer, has been on death row for a while now and it's only a matter of time before her number is called.

* I would buy a house
Renting has been nice- not having to fix anything or do yard work BUT I would like privacy back- especially if privacy comes with a fenced in yard and a doggie door for Daisy.

* I would get my bachelor's degree
I have an associates degree in something I haven't done in 7 years. I feel like I've got a lot of working experience in an office setting and no credentials to show for it.

* I would get my Broker's License
I wouldn't have to pay to park my real estate license anymore.

*I would travel the world
Getting a little travel taste in my mouth from that cruise has made me want to travel the world and see the sights.

* I would fly to Atlanta this weekend to see my friend
No plans, no Parker, I'd just hop a flight and go. And I'd buy stuff from Ikea this time!

* I would have J's X & Y chromosomes sorted
I'm shallow and spoiled and want my way all of the time. If we ever have a baby I WANT A GIRL. I've helped in raising a boy already- he won't let me paint his nails or curl his hair (even though it's long enough).

*I would have lasik surgery done for my whole family
The amount of money we spend on vision appointments, contacts and glasses every year for all of us is ridiculous.

* I would take up photography and get a nice camera
I love taking pictures- it would be nice to have a decent camera to do so and the knowledge of how to take them.

* I would write a book
I have a lot of stories and I like to tell them

I would do all of these things if money was at my disposal and we had 36 hour days! Gotta go- I need to stop and get a lottery ticket

Ugh...

Today is one of THOSE days. I am standing here with both arms held high and both middle fingers extended up to the world. I hate everything and everyone. Nothing has happened, nothing is going wrong, no one has done anything. It's just one of those days. I feel like I could get into a fist fight with a pissed off grizzly and send him -wimpering- back to his den in the first 10 seconds.

I woke up this way and I'm pretty damn sure I will be going to bed this way.
I HATE DAYS LIKE THIS. J and Daisy don't particularly like them either, I'm sure.

My Trip to Central America- Part Cuatro

Part Cuatro- Our 1st Day at Sea

Our first day at sea we woke early and went down to Raffles Buffet to grab some breakfast. I was in awe of the amount of food and how good it was! We walked around the pool area for a bit and decided to fill our soda cups and go back to the room to get ready and hang out on the balcony for a while. We took our time getting ready and read our books on the balcony (in the robes from our room) for a couple hours then decided to get on our swim suits and hit the pool area. It was about 90* with 90% humidity and coming from freezing Wisconsin it was perfect. I lathered on some sun screen and took a nap on a lounge chair overlooking the ocean. Missy had made quick friends with a bunch of people in one of the hot tubs and we told life stories and ordered buckets of beer all afternoon! After spending all day in the hot sun, applying and reapplying sunscreen it was time for another shower and we ended up just drinking on our balcony in our robes! And once the bucket of beer was gone the only logical thing to do was wear it and take pictures!!! We never left our room the rest of the night-except to fill our soda cups. We ordered room service for dinner, listened to music and drank & chilled on our balcony! It was a perfect start to an even more perfect vacation!

I have also included some pictures of our "towel animals" and housekeepers. Each day our housekeepers-Wilfred & Rachel would make animals out of our towels and leave them. We had a bunny, a duck, elephant, monkey, and mouse. They were awesome and made our day, every day!

June...... smells like graduation!

It's that time of year again, yep, graduation time!

We had Parker's 8th grade graduation ceremony last night at the Crivitz Middle School. I was actually impressed with how nice the ceremony was!

Parker was the proud (and surprised) recipient of this years Presidential Physical Fitness Award & Medal (the only one in his class). A very big honor for a kid who is extremely into his fitness and all sports. It's really hard for me to realize that he is starting High School in August. And Sara informed us that next summer starts............... drivers ed............. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Congrats, Park- Please slow down- you're growing up WAY too fast!

Another special guy recently graduated as well!

Ayden graduated from Pre-school and will start Kindergarten in August. We were bummed that we were there a week early and missed the adorable ceremony. Isn't he a handsome little graduate?!!!

Baby Gas???....

We had the pleasure of spending Memorial Weekend with our great friends- the Payne's-in Atlanta. J and I are god-parents for their first born- Ayden and Jamie and Jason asked if I would be god-mother to their newest addition- baby Ava. Ava's baptism was the main reason for the trip south.
It was awesome to be able to hang with our friends and to play with the kids. Baby Ava- as seen below- is the most beautiful baby and J and I both were smitten very quickly! J a little more than anyone!

Time- Memorial Weekend

Location- Tyrone, GA- Payne's garage

N: Isn't Ava so precious. I just want to squeeze her!

J: She's the cutest thing I've ever seen. I WANT a baby girl!

N: (eyes as big as Frisbees) Gulp! (walk away hoping it seems like I've not heard him)

Time- 2 days later
Location- Home
J: Are we going to have a baby?
N: Um... (gulp) can we discuss this after I turn 30?
J: Yeah, that's fine
N: (big relief sigh)

Time- 4 days later
Location- driving in truck
N: I can't believe you really want to have a baby!
J: Well, we can just get another dog if you want
N: What?!!! What happened to "I want a baby girl"?
J: Well, I'm out of the baby gas now!
N: Out of the baby what? What is that? What does that mean?
J: The Baby Gas. Babies omit a gas when you are around them to make you want one. Then once your out of and away from that gas cloud for awhile you come to your
senses.
N: Baby Gas, hey? I think you're right. It makes perfect sense- the little buggers. It's all a conspiracy. What kind of dog should we get?

Viewer Discretion Advised. Be very careful while viewing the above pictures. Do not stare into the baby eyes for long periods of time- you may be overtaken by Baby Gas.

City Living gets a new name and look!

When I first started this blog I imagined it would be funny stories about adjusting to life back in the city from the country. It has turned into just our life and what is going on. So it was time for a change. City Living is no longer and our blog is now IN A NUTSHELL. The blog has turned into just that- our life in a nutshell.
Please make the change on your blogs. The website http://nikkidelossantos.blogspot.com is the same though.

My Trip to Central America- Part Tres.2

Part Tres.2- Getting on the boat

After we finished our history tour we walked back to our hotel to grab our luggage and caught a cab to the cruise ship terminals. We ended up having a fabulous cab driver and unfortunately I didn't even get his name. He was 62 and full of life and love. He shared a quick story of his life and had children and left us with a great riddle.

There is a language that everyone in the world can speak and recognize- including
babies. What is it?

I immediately guessed "the language of love"- but I was wrong. It's MUSIC. I should have known since we were in the founding city of Jazz!

Once at the terminal we made our final phone calls and headed through security to the 45 minute line to check into the cruise ship and get our account cards. I was so excited walking up the gang-plank to the ship. Once on the ship we were greeted with a glass of champagne and set out to find our room and explore. I was in shock at how huge and how beautiful the ship was.

Our room, although very small, was perfect and since we had chosen to upgrade we had our own private balcony which Missy and I were excited to use. My boss had told me that we probably wouldn't use it that much but we did in fact get our money's worth! We sat out there and read our books, caught up on life and took some great pictures! We also slept with the patio doors open all night, every night and fell asleep to the sound of the crashing waves. Once home it was hard to fall asleep the first few days with none of that noise!

Once settled on the ship we had to partake in the emergency procedure class and had to line up on the deck of the boat with our life preservers on.

Since we had smuggled vodka on in water bottles we decided to purchase the $50 soda card for the week to have something to mix drinks with. We quickly mixed our drinks and set out to explore and catch some dinner. After dinner we retired back to our room and watched the sunset, drank and listened to music on our balcony all night long! It was a great start to a great vacation!

Stay tuned for Part Quatro- 1st day at Sea!


I have finally crossed over to the world of Flickr to share my photos in slideshow form. To view the pictures for this post click on the arrow. Once the slideshow starts click on the square in the lower right corner to maximize the show. To exit the slideshow click the escape button on your computer.

50 Completely Honest Things About Me - Part 11 of 50

Since my camera card reader took a dump, the Vacation to Central America posts are currently on hold until I can get to the store and get a new one. However, I was in a totally bloggy mood and figured, lets visit this old project!



Part 11 of 50: I'm Part Sailor

In the verbal sense! Unfortunately, I am a swear word junky. I look at swear words as the most versatile words you can use in a sentence, they can be used as nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, whatever. You can use swear words to show sadness, madness, pleasure, stress and excitement. If you use a swear word while yelling at someone- they know you are particularly upset. The same goes for any emotion you are trying to perceive, swear words just enhance.

My word of choice is unfortunately F*** (sorry, Grandma) and/or Shit. I know my grandma's word of choice is bullshit, though!

The favorite F-word only tends to flow openly when there is A.) a lot of alcohol involved or B.) a lot of stress involved. So if you don't like F-bombs bombing and you see me in one of the above mentioned situations- run like the wind!

Addition- My Trip to Central America-Part Tres.1

I worked all night on uploading ALL of the pictures that Missy and I took on our trip. Although I stated in my earlier post that I would not bore you with all of the pictures I took while on the history tour our second day in New Orleans, after looking at all of the pictures again there are a few more that I want to share with you as well as some pictures that relate to the previous posting.

Our tour guide- Leon

Washing the streets of New Orleans

This building is drab and run down but strangely it's very appealing to me.

I love all of the flowers & plants that adorn all of the balconies. I could easily retire tomorrow with library of books and one of these balconies and be set for life!

My Trip to Central America- Part Tres.1

Day 2 of New Orleans started out beautiful and sunny as expected. We were allowed to board the boat at any time between 10am and 5pm. We opted to spend as much time in New Orleans as we could and wanted to actually see the city as opposed to just Bourbon St and the bars. We had gathered a ton of information on city tours the day before from our hotel Concierge and decided on the walking History tour. The tour departed at 10am, a block from our hotel so we got up early and had breakfast in the restaurant. We were able to see the morning routine for the City of New Orleans workers- which includes washing the streets with a huge spray truck. The solution smells like a mixture of bleach and toothpaste (and you all know to me that "clean and disinfected" smells like heaven to me) and foams up on the streets and sidewalks. They clean the streets like this every morning. The city looks- and smells- like a completely different place than the night before!

We reached our tour group and met our tour guide- Leon. He has been retired for 12 years and is an actually certified tour guide from the State of Louisiana. He was AMAZING. His knowledge on not only the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans but history in general and his funny jokes throughout the 2.5 hour tour made it fun and interesting all at the same time. He really new his stuff and Missy and I both agreed that we were happy we chose that tour. Below are a few pictures from our tour.

This was our hotel- The Inn on Bourbon. Once the Opera House that burnt down in the early 1900's.

Street Performer & The Cabildo- Site of the Louisiana Purchase transfer in 1803

The Moonwalk (not Michael Jackson's) along the Mississippi River and the corn fence

Private residence courtyard- that made me wish it was mine and I was retired!

The Ursuline Convent- the oldest building in New Orleans and still functioning.

I could go on for pages and pages with pictures that I took during the tour, but won't bore you. I was in a constant state of euphoria on this tour since I have such an obsession with architecture. I have LOTS of pictures of random New Orleans houses and buildings.

One place that we did stop along our tour that was absolutely amazing was the Art Studio of Craig Tracy. His canvas is actually the human body and you must see his work to believe and appreciate. View his website here.
Here is a sneak peek at some of his work.

My favorite piece is not on his website but if and when I ever become wealthy- I will own a piece of his work!

Stay tuned for My Trip to Central America- Part Tres.2- Getting on the boat

Cinco de Mayo feliz!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

I will be enjoying some wonderful Mexican food
and a few of these babies tonight!

Little history tip for those who are interested. Cinco de Mayo is actually not the Mexican Independence Day like most people think and it is also not a Mexican Federal Holiday. Their Independence day is actually September 16th.

The reason Cinco de Mayo is celebrated is because on May 5, 1862 the Mexican battled the French at the Battle of Puebla and they won. The outnumbered, ill equipped Mexican army defeated the French army who was said to have not been defeated in a battle in 50 years.

I am so sorry :(

I have been terrible about keeping up with this blog lately. I haven't been able to even sit and check my emails let alone download pictures of my cruise and blog. Work has been crazy and I'm helping a friend with the purchase of a house, so once I'm home from work- I'm still working. I promise to try to post Day 2 of New Orleans before next Monday. And in before next Monday, I mean probably Sunday!
Thanks for your continued interst and I promise to be a better blogger... soon!

Might as well face it, I'm addicted to........

Yes, it's true, I am an addict. I have been for quite some time, but there's a new addiction to add to my list along with purses, shoes and of course smoking. I know I'm weak but I just can't help it. I. Have. To. Have. It. Every day. My afternoon at work just isn't the same without it.

My name is Nikki... and I'm addicted to... Diet Dr. Pepper.

I know most of you are probably shocked because I am not a soda drinker. And if I do drink a soda it certainly doesn't have caffeine in it. Well I am and it does! And yes, I do suffer from the dreaded heartburn after drinking just one of these little babies. But I have to have it!
I haven't hit rock bottom with my addiction yet- I refuse to buy it for the house. That's all I would need. I'd be all hopped up on caffeine, groaning in heartburn pain, organizing and re-organizing everything, eyes bugging out of my head.

I won't let it break me. I will not bring this stuff into my home. I will not be out in some dark alley grocery store in the middle of the night looking for my next fix. I can handle this- I will get through. Pray for me...

My trip to Central America: Part Dos

We left the Madison airport at 7 am on Saturday March 28th and landed in St. Louis at 8:10am. After a 3 hour layover, some food and way too many bloody mary's and Brutus beers we almost missed our connecting flight to New Orleans- but made it on just in time and a little tipsy!


We arrived in New Orleans to 65 degree weather at 1pm and grabbed a cab to our hotel- The Inn on Bourbon St. We quickly freshened up, changed our clothes and hit the streets grabbing a much popular Hurricane drink to go. I'm sure most of you know that drinking on the streets is permitted in New Orleans as long as you do not have glass. We did a lot of exploring... and shopping... and drinking! We watched a small parade on horses as well as a wedding parade dancing through the streets.

We hit Jackson Square which is a popular place for street vendors, psychic readers and street performers.

This was a watercolor painting that I feel in love with in Jackson Square. It's a picture of the corner of Bourbon St and Toulouse St with our hotel in the background. I would have loved to purchase it but being our first day of vacation I didn't want to shell out the $90 dollars!



We walked around the park in Jackson square and went to the St. Louis Cathedral- one of the oldest cathedrals still in service. The church was beginning to fill up for 5 o'clock mass.


I was absolutely amazed at how busy the town was since Mardi Gras was only 2 weeks prior to us being there. I can't even imagine what the town is like during Mardi Gras and actually don't think I'd like to be there for it!




We started to head back to our hotel around 5pm as we had made reservations at the popular and very fancy Comannders Palace Restaurant for an 8pm dinner. On the way we got sucked into a little jazz bar where the trumpet player fell in love with Missy!



We changed into our dinner dresses and grabbed a cab to the restaurant. Our dinner was amazing and the restaurant was really neat with some of the best service I've ever had. After dinner we hit a liquor store to buy vodka to put in our water bottles to smuggle onto the cruise boat, had a few more drinks (a few too many) and actually hit the hay before midnight!


I purchased a very appropriate t-shirt while we were shopping and the below picture pretty much sums it up. The t-shirt says " I got Bourbon faced on Shit Street"!

Stay tuned for Part Tres- Day 2 of New Orleans and getting on the boat!