I imagine it would look something like this.

Ironically, we have fire warnings today in Southern Minnesota while this is going on in Northern Minnesota. Tomorrow it's supposed to be ninety degrees for like a day before dropping back down to seventy.

I talked to my brother last night and it turns out my mom kicked him out when she moved because her apartment is small and she kept all of her stuff. Everything that can fit into an entire house. And that is with half of it in a storage unit! He asked me if he could keep his extra stuff here at my place until he got his living situation figured out and we told him sure thing. He spent the night and we got to talk and he played with the kids this morning before he left.

So my brother is in a bad spot. We offered him our playroom. We'd move the kids toys out and let him have the room to himself but he said he wanted to try living with his buddy first. He lost his job earlier this past summer too so he is looking for a new one.

If you could just pray for him and that he'd be able to find a place to live and get a good job, I'd really appreciate it. His life kind of got off track but he really is a good guy.

Snow has melted, yay!

And most of the ground is dry enough I don't have to worry about mud

This means life is pretty good for me. Kids are having fun outside and I don't (always) have to give them a bath when they come in. It's almost warm enough that I'm tempted to get my garden started. But, I'm told we're going to have another cold dip. I will probably wait until Mother's Day. That is when it is supposed to be safe for the plants to be out all night. I have no intention of bringing the plants inside because the last time I did that, a whole bunch of weird beetles decided to crawl out of the dirt and end up in all sorts of strange places in my apartment... Yeah, I was not amused. They are the type that "pops" on the ground to launch themselves into the air to reach higher places. I'd never seen their kind before and I was having heart attacks every time one of them would "pop" because it makes a loud sound.

I've also determined that I will probably not be seeing much of my husband anymore Now that he has a small canoe he bought cheap off of Craigslist, he has all sorts of fishing plans for after work. His workplace is surrounded by lakes with lots of good fishing. He has it all fixed up DIY-like with a trolling motor and fish finder. The first night we had the canoe, he literally spent hours sitting in it in the garage, fixing it up. Like a kid with his favorite toy

My oldest daughter has the same love for fishing as her dad. I foresee more fish than I can fit in my freezer this year.

One of my girlfriends asked me to go out last weekend but I already had plans. I promised her I'd go out with her on the coming Friday. She wanted to go down to this casino in Redwing because the drinks are cheap and they had a band playing, no cover charge. It was the first time I'd ever been to a casino and it felt...weird? Never have I seen so many older people in once place I felt like the 26 year old baby that I am

The band was pretty good. They were a country group and they played a lot of songs I knew. The bartender was amazing - I kept ordering Sex on the Beach and it went down like water. Thankfully, I'm not a complete light weight so I wasn't like crazy drunk or anything. I just had a buzz and I felt all nice and warm.

In between sets, I talked with my friend. Apparently she and her husband are going through a really bad patch right now. She has been coming to the casino every weekend and hanging out with another couple. They showed up later and we all sat together. She is older than all of us. The other couple is in their early to mid-thirties. They seemed alright. They gave my friend a lot of crap but they're all pretty close. I get the feeling that the wife is kind of a b---- because she was constantly talking down on her husband. I also got the feeling that her husband and my friend were really flirty. I smell disaster in the near future I kind of talked to her about it later when we left. But yeah... I really hope she and her husband can work things out because that would be the best situation for them and their three kids. And besides, you don't want to be a homewrecker. It is not worth all the pain it causes for everyone.

-----------------

Saturday morning we went to Wisconsin to visit my ex-SIL (I still call her my sister) and her boyfriend and the boys. They just got a house that they're renting and it's only a couple hours away from us. The girls hadn't seen their cousins in about a year, thanks to all the crap that my BIL has pulled with not wanting to see us and everything. 

We couldn't believe the difference we saw in the boys.

Before, they always seemed kind of out of it. They didn't smile a lot. And they were really disobedient. I always kind of dreaded hanging out with them because they fought with the girls and their behavior got the girls acting out too. Going out to McDonald's was a nightmare. Aaron and I just thought maybe they had bratty personalities. But nope. And it can't be blamed on their mom since she is still a constant in their lives. The big difference was the addition of her boyfriend and the subtraction of my BIL. Her boyfriend is great with the kids. He actually helps her out around the house and he watches the boys. My BIL always made her take care of them by herself, wouldn't change diapers, etc. He just wouldn't do anything with the kids. He always had his younger brother come over to take care of them if she had to go somewhere (which is what he does on his weekends when he has to take the kids). But this guy is like the exact opposite. He lets the kids come outside and help him work on his truck - he is a mechanic. They go to the park, they play. The boys call him New Daddy or Big Daddy since he is a big guy. But they love being around him and it shows. They were so much better behaved. They smiled all the time! And Mindy and I were actually able to take all six kids out to the park by ourselves and it wasn't an absolute disaster or stressful! It was so, so different from when we used to go visit when she was with my BIL. My daughter A was actually crying when we left because she missed her cousins already.

It was an amazing time and we all had so much fun, even though we were just there Saturday and Sunday.

But yeah, hubby told me he always tried to give his brother the benefit of the doubt about his parenting. The results though of their new living situation make it pretty obvious though that he is a really poor father. If the fact that every weekend they come back from his place they're all sick isn't proof enough. They're like totally new kids now. And I actually enjoy being around them. I think having a man in their life who actually spends time with them and puts them in time out when they need it makes all the difference.

It's sad what happened with my BIL and his wife. But honestly, I would say their kids are better off the way they are right now since he is too immature and won't get his act together. I still feel bad for my SIL considering what she went through. But I think she is far better off this way too.

These Attraction Formula ads that play as commercials on Hulu for "Merlin" come across as both an insult to the intelligence of women and men.

But it also ticks me off that these are the only types of commercials I get while watching Merlin. Why do they assume that it's only nerd boys watching this show?!

Grrr!

*angry nerd girl steps off her soap box*